LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 

Mr.    H.    H.    Kil iani 


UCSB   LIBRARY 

V- 


H.    DE    BALZAC 


THE   COMEDIE    HUMAINE 


HE    LISTENED    PATIENTLY TO    TALES    OF  THE  LITTLE    WOES 

OF   LIFE    IN    A    COUNTRY    TOWN. 


H.    DE    BALZAC 
THE 

JEALOUSIES  OF  A  COUNTRY 
TOWN 

(LES   RlVALITgS) 
ETC. 

TRANSLATED  BY 

ELLEN   MARRIAGE 


WITH  A  PEEFACE  BY 


GEORGE  SAINTSBURY 


PHILADELPHIA 

THE  GEBBIE  PUBLISHING  Co.,  Ltd. 
1899 


CONTENTS 


«  FAGS 

PREFACE  . 


IX 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN— 


THE  OLD  MAID 


THE  COLLECTION   OF  ANTIQUITIES 153 

A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT 313 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


HE   LISTENED  PATIENTLY TO  TALES   OF  THE   LITTLE  WOES   OF 

LIFE  IN  A  COUNTRY  TOWN  (p.  8)  ...       Frontispiece. 

PACK 

AT  ONCE  HE  TURNED  TO   LOOK  AT  ATHANASE        .  .  .  .        80 

HE  SAW  WITH  DEEP  EMOTION,  ALMOST  BEYOND  CONTROL,  HIS 
PATRON  STANDING  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  THE  EMPTY  COURT- 
YARD   156 

"WHAT  IS  IT,  MONSIEUR?"  SHE  ASKED,  POSING  IN  HER.  DIS- 
ORDER   250 

Drawn  by  W.  Boucher. 

THE  YOUNG  MAN   ARRIVED   NEXT   MORNING 343 

Drawn  by  F.  C.  TUney. 


PREFACE. 

THE  two  stories  of  "  Les  Rivalites"  are  more  closely  con- 
nected than  it  was  always  Balzac's  habit  to  connect  the  tales 
which  he  united  under  a  common  heading.  Not  only  are 
both  devoted  to  the  society  of  Alencon — a  town  and  neigh- 
borhood to  which  he  had  evidently  strong,  though  it  is  not 
clearly  known  what,  attractions — not  only  is  the  Chevalier  de 
Valois  a  notable  figure  in  each ;  but  the  community,  imparted 
by  the  elaborate  study  of  the  old  noblesse  in  each  case,  is  even 
greater  than  either  of  these  ties  could  give.  Indeed,  if  instead 
of  "Les  Rivalites"  the  author  had  chosen  some  label  indi- 
cating the  study  of  the  noblesse  qui  s1  en  va,  it  might  almost 
have  been  preferable.  He  did  not,  however ;  and  though  in 
a  man  who  so  constantly  changed  his  titles  and  his  arrange- 
ments the  actual  ones  are  not  excessively  authoritative,  they 
have  authority. 

"LaVieille  Fille,"  despite  a  certain  tone  of  levity — which, 
to  do  Balzac  justice,  is  not  common  with  him,  and  which  is 
rather  hard  upon  the  poor  heroine — is  one  of  the  best  and 
liveliest  things  he  ever  did.  The  opening  picture  of  the  chev- 
alier, though,  like  other  things  of  its  author's,  especially  in  his 
overtures,  liable  to  the  charge  of  being  elaborated  a  little  too 
much,  is  one  of  the  very  best  things  of  its  kind,  and  is  a  sort 
of  locus  classicus  for  its  subject.  The  whole  picture  of  country 
town  society  is  about  as  good  as  it  can  be ;  and  the  only  blot  that 
I  know  is  to  be  found  in  the  sentimental  Athanase,  who  was  not 
quite  within  Balzac's  province,  extensive  as  that  province  is. 
If  we  compare  Mr.  Augustus  Moddle,  we  shall  see  one  of  the 
not  too  numerous  instances  in  which  Dickens  has  a  clear  ad- 
vantage over  Balzac ;  and  if  it  be  retorted  that  Balzac's  object 
was  not  to  present  a  merely  ridiculous  object,  the  rejoinder  is 

M 


x  PREFACE. 

not  very  far  to  seek.  Such  a  character,  with  such  a  fate  as 
Balzac  has  assigned  to  him,  must  be  either  humorously  gro- 
tesque or  unfeignedly  pathetic,  and  Balzac  has  not  quite  made 
Athanase  either. 

He  is,  however,  if  he  is  a  failure,  about  the  only  failure  in 
the  book,  and  he  is  atoned  for  by  a  whole  bundle  of  successes. 
Of  the  chevalier,  little  more  need  be  said.  Balzac,  it  must  be 
remembered,  was  the  oldest  novelist  of  distinct  genius  who 
had  the  opportunity  of  delineating  the  survivors  of  the  ancien 
rtgime  from  the  life,  and  directly.  It  is  certain — even  if  we 
hesitate  at  believing  him  quite  so  familiar  with  all  the  classes 
of  higher  society  from  the  Faubourg  down  ward,  as  he  would 
have  us  believe  him — that  he  saw  something  of  most  of  them, 
and  his  genius  was  unquestionably  of  the  kind  to  which  a  mere 
thumbnail  study,  a  mere  passing  view,  suffices  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  thorough  working  knowledge  of  the  object.  In  this 
case  the  chevalier  has  served,  and  not  improperly  served,  as 
the  original  of  a  thousand  after-studies.  His  rival,  less  care- 
fully projected,  is  also  perhaps  a  little  less  alive.  Again, 
Balzac  was  old  enough  to  have  foregathered  with  many  men  of 
the  Revolution.  But  the  most  characteristic  of  them  were  not 
long  lived,  the  "little  window"  and  other  things  having  had 
a  bad  effect  on  them ;  and  most  of  those  who  survived  had,  by 
the  time  he  was  old  enough  to  take  much  notice,  gone  through 
metamorphoses  of  Bonapartism,  Constitutional  Liberalism,  and 
what  not.  But  still  du  Bosquier  is  alive,  as  well  as  all  the 
minor  assistants  and  spectators  in  the  battle  for  the  old  maid's 
hand.  Suzanne,  that  tactful  and  graceless  Suzanne  to  whom 
we  are  introduced  first  of  all,  is  very  much  alive ;  and  for  all 
her  gracelessness  not  at  all  disagreeable.  I  am  only  sorry  that 
she  sold  the  counterfeit  presentment  of  the  Princess  Goritza 
after  all. 

"Le  Cabinet  des  Antiques,"  in  its  Alencon  scenes,  is  a 
worthy  pendant  to  "  La  Vieille  Fille."  The  old-world  honor 
of  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon,  the  thankless  sacrifices  of  Ar- 


PREFACE.  xi 

mande,  the  prisca  fide s  of  Maitre  Chesnel,  present  pictures  for 
which,  out  of  Balzac,  we  can  look  only  in  Jules  Sandeau,  and 
which  in  Sandeau,  though  they  are  presented  with  a  more 
poetical  touch,  have  less  masterly  outline  than  here.  One 
takes — or,  at  least,  I  take — less  interest  in  the  ignoble  intrigues 
of  the  other  side,  except  in  so  far  as  they  menace  the  fortunes 
of  a  worthy  house  unworthily  represented.  Victurnien  d'Es- 
grignon,  like  his  companion,  Savinien  de  Portenduere  (who, 
however,  is,  in  every  respect,  a  very  much  better  fellow),  does 
not  argue  in  Balzac  any  high  opinion  of  the^/f/j  defamille. 
He  is,  in  fact,  an  extremely  feeble  youth,  who  does  not  seem 
to  have  got  much  real  satisfaction  out  of  the  escapades,  for 
which  he  risked  not  merely  his  family's  fortune,  but  his  own 
honor,  and  who  would  seem  to  have  been  a  rake,  not  from 
natural  taste  and  spirit  and  relish,  but  because  it  seemed  to 
him  to  be  the  proper  thing  to  be.  But  the  beginnings  of  the 
fortune  of  the  aspiring  and  intriguing  Camusots  are  admirably 
painted ;  and  Madame  de  Maufrigneuse,  that  rather  doubtful 
divinity,  who  appears  so  frequently  in  Balzac,  here  acts  the 
dea  ex  machina  with  considerable  effect.  And  we  end  well 
(as  we  generally  do  when  Blondet,  whom  Balzac  seems  more 
than  once  to  adopt  as  mask,  is  the  narrator),  in  the  last 
glimpse  of  Mile.  Armande  left  alone  with  the  remains  of  her 
beauty,  the  ruins  of  everything  dear  to  her — and  God. 

These  two  stories  were  written  at  no  long  interval,  yet,  for 
some  reason  or  other,  Balzac  did  not  at  once  unite  them. 
"La  Vieille  Fille"  first  appeared  in  November  and  December, 
1836,  in  the  "  Presse,"  and  was  inserted  next  year  in  the 
Scenes  de  la  Vie  de  Province.  It  had  three  chapter  divisions. 
The  second  part  did  not  appear  all  at  once.  Its  first  install- 
ment, under  the  general  title,  came  out  in  the  "  Chronique  de 
Paris"  even  before  the  "  Vieille  Fille"  appeared  in  March, 
1836;  the  completion  was  not  published  (under  the  title  of 
"  Les  Rivalites  en  Province")  till  the  autumn  of  1838,  when 
the  "  Constitutionnel  "  served  as  its  vehicle.  There  were  eight 


xii  PREFACE. 

chapter  divisions  m  this  latter.  The  whole  of  the  "  Cabinet  " 
was  published  in  book  form  (with  "Gambara"  to  follow  it) 
in  1839.  There  were  some  changes  here;  and  the  divisions 
were  abolished  when  the  whole  book  in  1844  entered  the 
Com6die.  One  of  the  greatest  mistakes  which,  in  my  humble 
judgment,  the  organizers  of  the  Edition  definitive  have  made, 
is  their  adoption  of  Balzac's  never  executed  separation  of  the 
pair  and  deletion  of  the  excellent  joint-title  "Les  Rivalites." 

If  Balzac  had  been  acquainted  with  the  works  of  Chaucer 
(which  would  have  been  extremely  surprising)  he  might  have 
called  "Le  Contrat  de  Manage"  "A  Legend  of  Bad 
Women."  He  has  not  been  exactly  sparing  of  studies  in 
that  particular  kind ;  but  he  has  surpassed  himself  here. 
Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse  redeems  herself  by  her  character, 
however  imperfectly  supported,  of  grande  dame,  Beatrix  de 
Rochefide  by  a  certain  naturalness  and  weakness,  Flore  Brazier 
by  circumstances  and  education,  others  by  other  things.  But 
Madame  Evangelista  and  her  daughter  Natalie  may  be  said  to 
be  bad  all  through — thoroughly  poisonous  persons  who,  much 
more  than  the  actual  Milady  of  "  Les  Trois  Mousquetaires  " 
(there  was  some  charm  in  her),  deserved  to  be  taken  and 
"justified"  by  lynch  law.  If  the  "Thirteen"  (who  were 
rather  interested  in  the  matter)  had  descended  upon  both  in 
the  fashion  of  d'Artagnan  and  his  friends,  I  do  not  know  that 
any  one  would  have  had  much  right  to  complain.  How  far 
the  picture  is  exaggerated  must  be  a  question  to  be  decided 
partly  by  individual  experience,  partly  by  other  arguments. 
Although  I  am  not  always  disposed  to  defend  Balzac  from  the 
charge  of  exaggeration,  I  think  he  is  fairly  free  from  it  here. 

Madame  Evangelista,  beside  the  usual  womanly  desire  to 
make  a  figure  in  the  capital,  has  (not  to  excuse,  but  to  explain 
her)  the  equally  natural  tendency  to  regard  everybody  out- 
side her  own  family  as  an  at  least  possible  enemy  to  be  "  ex- 
ploited "  pitilessly,  together  with  bad  blood  which,  though 
luckily  not  common,  is  by  no  means  impossible  nor  even  ex- 


PREFACE.  xiil 

tremely  rare.  Her  daughter,  as  Balzac  has  acutely  suggested, 
both  here  and  elsewhere,  is,  like  not  a  few  women,  destitute 
of  that  sense  of  abiding  gratitude  for  pleasure  mutually  en- 
joyed which  tempers  the  evil  tendencies  of  the  male  sex  to  no 
inconsiderable  extent.  She  has  never  cared  for  her  husband ; 
she  has  no  morals ;  and  (as  in  another  book  and  subject,  her  letter 
to  Felix  de  Vandenesse,  well  deserved  as  it  is  in  the  particular 
instance,  shows)  she  has  the  fortunately  not  universal  but  ex- 
cessively dangerous  combination  of  utter  selfishness  with  very 
clear-sighted  commonsense. 

The  men  are  equally  true,  and  much  more  agreeable.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  here  only  does  Balzac's  pattern  Byronic 
dandy  Marsay  cut  a  distinctly  agreeable  figure.  He  is  still 
something  of  a  coxcomb,  but  he  is,  as  he  is  not  very  often,  a 
gentleman ;  he  is,  as  he  is  scarcely  ever,  a  good  fellow ;  and 
he  deserves  his  character  as  un  homme  tres  fort,  to  say  the 
least,  better  than  he  does  in  some  places.  The  two  family 
lawyers  are  excellent.  As  for  Paul  de  Manerville,  the  unfor- 
tunate fleur  des  pots  (the  title  for  some  time  of  the  book) 
himself,  he  is  one  of  the  profoundest  of  Balzac's  studies,  and 
it  was  perhaps  rather  unkind  of  his  creator  to  call  him  a  mat's. 
At  any  rate,  he  was  not  more  so  than  that  very  creator  when 
he  committed  slow  suicide  by  waiting  and  working  till  a 
woman,  who  cannot  have  been  worth  the  trouble,  at  last  made 
up  her  mind  to  "derogate"  a  little,  and,  without  any  pecuni- 
ary sacrifice,  to  exchange  the  position  of  widow  of  a  member 
of  a  second-rate  aristocracy  for  that  of  wife  of  one  of  the 
foremost  living  men  of  letters  in  Europe,  who  was  himself 
technically  a  gentleman.  Marsay's  letters  to  Paul  only  put 
pointedly  what  the  whole  story  puts  suggestively,  the  great 
truth  that  you  may  "see  life"  without  knowing  it,  and  that 
for  a  certain  kind  of  respectable  person  the  sowing  of  wild 
oats  is  a  far  more  dangerous  kind  of  husbandry  than  for  the 
wildest  profligate.  It  is  true  that  Paul  has  exceedingly  bad 
luck,  and  that  in  countries  other  than  France  he  might  have 


xiv  PREFACE. 

subsided  into  a  most  respectable  and  comfortable  country 
gentleman.  But  as  a  great  authority,  whom  he  probably 
knew,  Paul  de  Florae,  his  namesake  and  contemporary, 
remarked,  "Do  not  adopt  our  institutions  a  demi,"  so  it 
would  seem  to  be  a  maxim  that  the  two  kinds  of  life  cannot 
be  combined — at  least,  that  seems  to  be  Balzac's  moral. 

The  first  titles  of  the  two  main  stories  have  been  given 
above.  "  La  Fleur  des  pois,"  as  such,  appeared  in  no  news- 
paper, but  in  the  "Scenes  de  la  Vie  Privee  "  of  1834-35. 
It  had  three  divisions,  which  disappeared  in  the  first  edition 
of  the  Comedie,  when  also  the  title  was  changed.  Its  com- 
panion was  printed  under  its  first  title,  and  with  fourteen 
chapter  divisions,  in  a  paper  called  "  La  Legislature,"  between 
July  and  September,  1842.  Balzac  at  first  meant  to  call  it 
"Les  Jeunes  Gens,"*  but  changed  this  to  "Le  Danger  des 
Mystifications,"  and  that  again  to  the  present  form,  when  it 
appeared  (with  "La  fausse  Maitresse  ")  as  a  book  in  1844. 
Next  year  it  was  classed  in  the  Comedie,  undergoing  the 
usual  process  of  deletion  of  the  chapter  divisions  and  head- 
ings. 

G.  S. 
*  This  refers  to  "A  Start  in  Life." 


THE  JEALOUSIES  OF  A  COUNTRY 
TOWN. 

THE  OLD   MAID 

(La  Vieille  Fille). 

To  M,  Eugene  Auguste  Georges  Louis  Midy  de  la 
GrenerayeSurville,  Civil  Engineer  of  (he  Corps-Royal, 
a  token  of  affection  from  his  brother-in-law. 

DE  BALZAC. 

PLENTY  of  people  must  have  come  across  at  least  one  Cheva- 
lier de  Valois  in  the  provinces ;  there  was  one  in  Normandy, 
another  was  extant  at  Bourges,  a  third  flourished  at  Alencon 
in  the  year  1816,  and  the  South  very  likely  possessed  one  of 
its  own.  But  we  are  not  here  concerned  with  the  numbering 
of  the  Valois  tribe.  Some  of  them,  no  doubt,  were  about  as 
much  of  Valois  as  Louis  XIV.  was  a  Bourbon  ;  and  every 
chevalier  was  so  slightly  acquainted  with  the  rest  that  it  was 
anything  but  politic  to  mention  one  of  them  when  speaking  to 
another.  All  of  them,  however,  agreed  to  leave  the  Bourbons 
in  perfect  tranquillity  on  the  throne  of  France,  for  it  is  a  little 
too  well  proven  that  Henri  IV.  succeeded  to  the  crown  in 
default  of  heirs  male  in  the  Orleans,  otherwise  the  Valois 
branch  ;  so  that  if  any  Valois  exist  at  all,  they  must  be  de- 
scendants of  Charles  of  Valois,  Duke  of  AngoulSme,  and 
Marie  Touchet ;  and  even  there  the  direct  line  was  extinct 
(unless  proof  to  the  contrary  is  forthcoming)  in  the  person  of 
the  Abbe  de  Rothelin.  As  for  the  Valois  Saint-Remy,  de- 
scended from  Henri  II.,  they  likewise  came  to  an  end  with 
the  too  famous  Lamothe- Valois  of  the  Diamond  Necklace 
affair. 

(1) 


2  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Every  one  of  the  chevaliers,  if  information  is  correct,  was, 
like  the  chevalier  of  Alencon,  an  elderly  noble,  tall,  lean,  and 
without  fortune.  The  Bourges  chevalier  had  emigrated,  the 
Touraine  Valois  went  into  hiding  during  the  Revolution,  and 
the  Alenc.on  chevalier  was  mixed  up  in  the  Vendean  war, 
and  implicated  to  some  extent  in  Chouannerie.*  The  last- 
named  gentleman  spent  the  most  part  of  his  youth  in  Paris, 
where,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  the  Revolution  broke  in  upon  his 
career  of  conquests.  Accepted  as  a  true  Valois  by  persons  of 
the  highest  quality  in  his  province,  the  Chevalier  de  Valois 
d'Alen£on  (like  his  namesakes)  was  remarkable  for  his  fine 
manners,  and  had  evidently  been  accustomed  to  move  in  the 
best  society. 

He  dined  out  every  day,  and  played  cards  of  an  evening, 
and,  thanks  to  one  of  his  weaknesses,  was  regarded  as  a  great 
wit  j  he  had  a  habit  of  relating  a  host  of  anecdotes  of  the 
times  of  Louis  Quinze,  and  those  who  heard  his  stories  for  the 
first  time  thought  them  passably  well  narrated.  The  Chevalier 
de  Valois,  moreover,  had  one  virtue  :  he  refrained  from  re- 
peating his  own  good  sayings,  and  never  alluded  to  his  con- 
quests, albeit  his  smiles  and  airs  were  delightfully  indiscreet. 
The  old  gentleman  took  full  advantage  of  the  old-fashioned 
Voltairean  noble's  privilege  of  staying  away  from  mass,  but 
his  irreligion  was  very  tenderly  dealt  with  out  of  regard  for 
his  devotion  to  the  Royalist  cause. 

One  of  his  most  remarked  graces  (Mole  must  have  learned 
it  of  him)  was  his  way  of  taking  snuff  from  an  old-fashioned 
snuff-box  with  a  portrait  of  a  lady  on  the  lid.  The  Princess 
Goritza,  a  lovely  Hungarian,  had  been  famous  for  her  beauty 
toward  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV. ;  and  the  chevalier 
could  never  speak  without  emotion  of  the  foreign  great  lady 
whom  he  loved  in  his  youth,  for  whom  he  had  fought  a  duel 
with  M.  de  Lauzun. 

But  by  this  time  the  chevalier  had  lived  fifty-eight  years, 
*  The  Royalist  rising  in  Vend6e. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.  3 

and  if  he  owned  to  but  fifty  of  them,  he  might  safely  indulge 
himself  in  that  harmless  deceit.  Thin,  fair-complexioned 
men,  among  other  privileges,  retain  their  youthfulness  of 
shape  which  in  men,  as  in  women,  contributes  as  much  as 
anything  to  stave  off  any  appearance  of  age.  And,  indeed, 
it  is  a  fact  that  all  the  life,  or  rather,  all  the  grace,  which  is 
the  expression  of  life,  lies  in  the  figure.  Among  the  chevalier's 
personal  traits,  mention  must  be  made  of  the  portentous  nose 
with  which  nature  had  endowed  him.  It  cut  a  pallid  coun- 
tenance sharply  into  two  sections  which  seemed  to  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  each  other ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  only  one- 
half  of  his  face  would  flush  with  the  exertion  of  digestion  after 
dinner ;  all  the  glow  being  confined  to  the  left  side,  a  phe- 
nomenon worthy  of  note  in  times  when  physiology  is  so  much 
occupied  with  the  human  heart.  M.  de  Valois'  health  was  not 
apparently  robust,  judging  by  his  long,  thin  legs,  lean  frame, 
and  sallow  complexion ;  but  he  ate  like  an  ogre,  alleging, 
doubtless  by  way  of  excuse  for  his  voracity,  that  he  suffered 
from  a  complaint  known  in  the  provinces  as  a  "  hot  liver." 
The  flush  on  his  left  cheek  confirmed  the  story ;  but  in  a  land 
where  meals  are  developed  on  the  lines  of  thirty  or  forty  dishes, 
and  last  for  four  hours  at  a  stretch,  the  chevalier's  abnormal 
appetite  might  well  seem  to  be  a  special  mark  of  the  favor  of 
Providence  vouchsafed  to  the  good  town.  That  flush  on  the 
left  cheek,  according  to  divers  medical  authorities,  is  a  sign 
of  prodigality  of  heart ;  and,  indeed,  the  chevalier's  past 
record  of  gallantry  might  seem  to  confirm  a  professional  dic- 
tum for  which  the  present  chronicler  (most  fortunately)  is  in 
nowise  responsible.  But  in  spite  of  these  symptoms,  M.  de 
Valois  was  of  nervous  temperament,  and  in  consequence  long- 
lived  ;  and  if  his  liver  was  hot,  to  use  the  old-fashioned  phrase, 
his  heart  was  not  a  whit  less  inflammable.  If  there  was  a  line 
worn  here  and  there  in  his  face,  and  a  silver  thread  or  so  in 
his  hair,  an  experienced  eye  would  have  discerned  in  these 
signs  and  tokens  the  stigmata  of  desire,  the  furrows  traced  by 


4  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

past  pleasure.  And,  in  fact,  in  his  face,  the  unmistakable 
marks  of  the  crow's  foot  and  the  serpent's  tooth  took  the 
shape  of  the  delicate  wrinkles  so  prized  at  the  court  of 
Cytherea. 

Everything  about  the  gallant  chevalier  revealed  the  "  ladies' 
man."  So  minutely  careful  was  he  over  his  ablutions  that  it 
was  a  pleasure  to  see  his  cheeks ;  they  might  have  been  brushed 
over  with  some  miraculous  water.  That  portion  of  his  head 
which  the  hair  refused  to  hide  from  view  shone  like  ivory. 
His  eyebrows,  like  his  hair,  had  a  youthful  look,  so  carefully 
was  their  growth  trained  and  regulated  by  the  comb.  A 
naturally  fair  skin  seemed  to  be  yet  further  whitened  by  some 
mysterious  preparation ;  and  while  the  chevalier  never  used 
scent,  there  was  about  him,  as  it  were,  a  perfume  of  youth 
which  enhanced  the  freshness  of  his  looks.  His  hands,  that 
told  of  race,  were  as  carefully  kept  as  if  they  belonged  to  some 
coxcomb  of  the  gentler  sex;  you  could  not  help  noticing 
those  rose-pink  neatly-trimmed  finger-nails.  Indeed,  but  for 
his  lordly  superlative  nose,  the  chevalier  would  have  looked 
like  a  doll. 

It  takes  some  resolution  to  spoil  this  portrait  with  the  ad- 
mission of  a  foible ;  the  chevalier  put  cotton  wool  in  his  ears, 
and  still  continued  to  wear  earrings — two  tiny  negroes'  heads 
set  with  brilliants.  They  were  of  admirable  workmanship,  it 
is  true,  and  their  owner  was  so  far  attached  to  the  singular 
appendages  that  he  used  to  justify  his  fancy  by  saying  that  his 
"sick  headaches  had  left  him  since  his  ears  were  pierced." 
He  used  to  suffer  from  sick  headaches.  The  chevalier  is  not 
held  up  as  a  flawless  character ;  but  even  if  an  old  bachelor's 
heart  sends  too  much  blood  to  his  face,  is  he  never  therefore 
to  be  forgiven  for  his  adorable  absurdities?  Perhaps  (who 
knows?)  there  are  sublime  secrets  hidden  away  beneath  them. 
And  beside,  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  made  amends  for  his 
negroes'  heads  with  such  a  variety  of  other  and  different 
charms  that  society  ought  to  have  felt  itself  sufficiently  com- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A   COUNTRY  TOWN.  5 

pensated.  He  really  was  at  great  pains  to  conceal  his  age  and 
to  make  himself  agreeable. 

First  and  foremost,  witness  the  extreme  care  which  he  gave 
to  his  linen,  the  one  distinction  in  dress  which  a  gentleman 
may  permit  himself  in  modern  days.  The  chevalier's  linen 
was  invariably  fine  and  white,  as  befitted  a  noble.  His  coat, 
though  remarkably  neat,  was  always  somewhat  worn,  but 
spotless  and  uncreased.  The  preservation  of  this  garment 
bordered  on  the  miraculous  in  the  opinion  of  those  who 
noticed  the  chevalier's  elegant  indifference  on  this  head ;  not 
that  he  went  so  far  as  to  scrape  his  clothes  with  broken  glass 
(a  refinement  invented  by  the  Prince  of  Wales),  but  he  set 
himself  to  carry  out  the  first  principles  of  dress  as  laid  down 
by  Englishmen  of  the  very  highest  and  finest  fashion,  and  this 
with  a  personal  element  of  coxcombry  which  Alencon  was 
scarcely  capable  of  appreciating.  Does  the  world  owe  no 
esteem  to  those  that  take  such  pains  for  it  ?  And  what  was 
all  this  labor  but  the  fulfillment  of  that  very  hardest  of  sayings 
in  the  Gospel,  which  bids  us  return  good  for  evil  ?  The  fresh- 
ness of  the  toilet,  the  care  for  dress,  suited  well  with  the 
chevalier's  blue  eyes,  ivory  teeth,  and  bland  personality;  still, 
the  superannuated  Adonis  had  nothing  masculine  in  his  appear- 
ance, and  it  would  seem  that  he  employed  the  illusion  of  the 
toilet  to  hide  the  ravages  of  other  than  military  campaigns. 

To  tell  the  whole  truth,  the  chevalier  had  a  voice  singularly 
at  variance  with  his  delicate  fairness.  So  full  was  it  and 
sonorous,  that  you  would  have  been  startled  by  the  sound  of 
it  unless,  with  certain  observers  of  human  nature,  you  held 
the  theory  that  the  voice  was  only  what  might  be  expected  of 
such  a  nose.  With  something  less  of  volume  than  a  giant 
double-bass,  it  was  a  full,  pleasant  baritone,  reminding  you  of 
the  hautboy  among  musical  instruments,  sweet  and  resonant, 
deep  and  rich. 

M.  de  Valois  had  discarded  the  absurd  costume  still  worn 
by  a  few  antiquated  Royalists,  and  frankly  modernized  his 


6  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

dress.  He  always  appeared  in  a  maroon  coat  with  gilt  but- 
tons, loosely-fitting  breeches  with  gold  buckles  at  the  knees,  a 
white  sprigged  vest,  a  tight  stock,  and  a  collarless  shirt ;  this 
being  a  last  vestige  of  eighteenth-century  costume,  which  its 
wearer  was  the  less  willing  to  relinquish  because  it  enabled 
him  to  display  a  throat  not  unworthy  of  a  lay  abbe.  Square 
gold  buckles  of  a  kind  unknown  to  the  present  generation 
shone  conspicuous  upon  his  patent-leather  shoes.  Two  watch 
chains  hung  in  view  in  parallel  lines  from  a  couple  of  fobs, 
another  survival  of  an  eighteenth-century  mode  which  the  old 
boy  did  not  disdain  to  copy  in  the  time  of  the  Directory. 
This  costume  of  a  transition  period,  reuniting  two  centuries, 
was  worn  by  the  chevalier  with  the  grace  of  an  old-world 
marquis,  a  grace  lost  to  the  French  stage  since  Mole's  last 
pupil,  Fleury,  retired  from  the  boards  and  took  his  secret  with 
him. 

The  old  bachelor's  private  life,  seemingly  open  to  all  eyes, 
was  in  reality  inscrutable.  He  lived  in  a  modest  lodging  (to 
say  the  least  of  it)  up  two  sets  of  stairs  in  a  house  in  the  Rue 
du  Cours,  his  landlady  being  the  laundress  most  in  request  in 
Alencon — which  fact  explains  the  extreme  elegance  of  the 
chevalier's  linen.  Ill  luck  was  so  to  order  it  that  Alencon 
one  day  could  actually  believe  that  he  had  not  always  con- 
ducted himself  as  befitted  a  man  of  his  quality,  and  that  in  his 
old  age  he  privately  married  one  Cesarine,  the  mother  of  an 
infant  which  had  the  impertinence  to  come  without  being 
called. 

"  He  gave  his  hand  to  her  who  for  so  long  had  lent  her 
hand  to  iron  his  linen,"  said  a  certain  M.  du  Bousquier. 

The  sensitive  noble's  last  days  were  the  more  vexed  by  this 
unpleasant  scandal,  because,  as  shall  be  shown  in  the  course 
of  this  present  Scene,  he  had  already  lost  a  long-cherished 
hope  for  which  he  had  made  many  a  sacrifice. 

Mme.  Lardot's  two  rooms  were  let  to  M.  le  Chevalier  de 
Valois  at  the  moderate  rent  of  a  hundred  francs  per  annum. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.  7 

The  worthy  gentleman  dined  out  every  night,  and  only  came 
home  to  sleep ;  he  was  therefore  at  charges  for  nothing  but  his 
breakfast,  which  always  consisted  of  a  cup  of  chocolate  with 
butter  and  fruit,  according  to  the  season.  A  fire  was  never 
lighted  in  his  rooms  except  in  the  very  coldest  winters,  and 
then  only  while  he  was  dressing.  Between  the  hours  of  eleven 
and  four  M.  de  Valois  took  his  walks  abroad,  read  the  news- 
papers, and  paid  calls. 

When  the  chevalier  first  settled  in  Alencon,  he  magnan- 
imously owned  that  he  had  nothing  but  an  annuity  of  six  hun- 
dred livres  paid  in  quarterly  installments  by  his  old  man  of 
business,  with  whom  the  certificates  were  deposited.  This 
was  all  that  remained  of  his  former  wealth.  And  every  three 
months,  in  fact,  a  banker  in  the  town  paid  him  a  hundred  and 
fifty  francs  remitted  by  one  M.  Bordin  of  Paris,  the  last  of 
the  procureurs  du  Ch&telet*  These  particulars  everybody 
knew,  for  the  chevalier  had  taken  care  to  ask  his  confidant  to 
keep  the  matter  a  profound  secret.  He  reaped  the  fruits  of 
his  misfortunes.  A  cover  was  laid  for  him  in  all  the  best 
houses  in  Alengon ;  he  was  asked  to  every  evening  party. 
His  talents  as  a  card-player,  a  teller  of  anecdotes,  a  pleasant 
and  well-bred  man  of  the  world  were  so  thoroughly  appreci- 
ated that  an  evening  was  spoiled  if  the  connoisseur  of  the  town 
was  not  present.  The  host  and  hostess  and  all  the  ladies  pres- 
ent missed  his  little  approving  grimace.  "You  are  adorably 
well  dressed,"  from  the  old  bachelor's  lips,  was  sweeter  to  a 
young  woman  in  a  ballroom  than  the  sight  of  her  rival's  de- 
spair. 

There  were  certain  old-world  expressions  which  no  one 
could  pronounce  so  well.  "My  heart,"  "my  jewel,"  "my 
little  love,"  "  my  queen,"  and  all  the  dear  diminutives  of  the 
year  1770  took  an  irresistible  charm  from  M.  de  Valois'  lips; 
in  short,  the  privilege  of  superlatives  was  his.  His  compli- 
ments, of  which,  moreover,  he  was  chary,  won  him  the  good- 
*  Fiduciary  agent. 


8  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

will  of  the  elderly  ladies ;  he  flattered  every  one  down  to  the 
officials  of  whom  he  had  no  need. 

He  was  so  fine  a  gentleman  at  the  card-table  that  his  be- 
havior would  have  marked  him  out  anywhere.  He  never  com- 
plained ;  when  his  opponents  lost  he  praised  their  play ;  he 
never  undertook  the  education  of  his  partners  by  showing  them 
what  they  ought  to  have  done.  If  a  nauseating  discussion  of 
this  kind  began  while  the  cards  were  making,  the  chevalier 
brought  out  his  snuff-box  with  a  gesture  worthy  of  Mole,  looked 
at  the  Princess  Goritza's  portrait,  took  off  the  lid  in  a  stately 
manner,  heaped  up  a  pinch,  rubbed  it  to  a  fine  powder  be- 
tween finger  and  thumb,  blew  off  the  light  particles,  shaped  a 
little  cone  in  his  hand,  and  by  the  time  the  cards  were  dealt 
he  had  replenished  the  cavities  in  his  nostrils  and  replaced 
the  princess  in  his  waistcoat  pocket — always  on  the  left-hand 
side. 

None  but  a  noble  of  the  Gracious  as  distinguished  from  the 
Great  Century  could  have  invented  such  a  compromise  'be- 
tween a  disdainful  silence  and  an  epigram  which  would  have 
passed  over  the  heads  of  his  company.  The  chevalier  took 
dull  minds  as  he  found  them,  and  knew  how  to  turn  them  to 
account.  His  irresistible  evenness  of  temper  caused  many  a 
one  to  say:  "I  admire  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  !  "  Every- 
thing about  him,  his  conversation  and  his  manner,  seemed  in 
keeping  with  his  mild  appearance.  He  was  careful  to  come 
into  collision  with  no  one,  man  or  woman.  Indulgent  with 
deformity  as  with  defects  of  intellect,  he  listened  patiently 
(with  the  help  of  the  Princess  Goritza)  to  tales  of  the  little 
woes  of  life  in  a  country  town ;  to  anecdotes  of  the  under- 
cooked  egg  at  breakfast,  or  the  sour  cream  in  the  coffee ;  to 
small  grotesque  details  of  physical  ailments ;  to  tales  of 
dreams  and  visitations  and  wakings  with  a  start.  The 
chevalier  was  an  exquisite  listener.  He  had  a  languishing 
glance,  a  stock  attitude  to  denote  compassion ;  he  put  in  his 
"Ohs"  and  "Poohs"  and  "  What-did-you-dos?"  with 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.  9 

charming  appropriateness.  Till  his  dying  day  no  one  ever 
suspected  that  while  these  avalanches  of  nonsense  lasted,  the 
chevalier  in  his  own  mind  was  rehearsing  the  warmest  passages 
of  an  old  romance,  of  which  the  Princess  Goritza  was  the 
heroine.  Has  any  one  ever  given  a  thought  to  the  social  uses 
of  extinct  sentiment  ? — or  guessed  in  how  many  indirect  ways 
love  benefits  humanity  ? 

Possibly  this  listener's  faculty  sufficiently  explains  the 
chevalier's  popularity ;  he  was  always  the  spoiled  child  of  the 
town,  although  he  never  quitted  a  drawing-room  without  carry- 
ing off  about  five  livres  in  his  pocket.  Sometimes  he  lost, 
and  he  made  the  most  of  his  losses,  but  it  very  seldom 
happened.  All  those  who  knew  him  say  with  one  accord  that 
never  in  any  place  have  they  met  with  so  agreeable  a  mummy, 
not  even  in  the  Egyptian  museum  at  Turin.  Surely  in  no 
known  country  of  the  globe  did  parasite  appear  in  such  a 
benignant  shape.  Never  did  selfishness  in  its  most  concen- 
trated form  show  itself  so  inoffensive,  so  full  of  good  offices," 
as  in  this  gentleman ;  the  chevalier's  egoism  was  as  good  as 
another  man's  devoted  friendship.  If  any  person  went  to 
ask  M.  de  Valois  to  do  some  trifling  service  which  the  worthy 
chevalier  could  not  perform  without  inconvenience,  that 
person  never  went  away  without  conceiving  a  great  liking  for 
him,  and  departed  fully  convinced  that  the  chevalier  could  do 
nothing  in  the  matter,  or  might  do  harm  if  he  meddled  with 
it. 

To  explain  this  problematical  existence  the  chronicler  is 
bound  to  admit,  while  Truth — that  ruthless  debauchee — has 
caught  him  by  the  throat,  that  latterly,  after  the  three  sad, 
glorious  Days  of  July,  Alencon  discovered  that  M.  de  Valois' 
winnings  at  cards  amounted  to  something  like  a  hundred  and 
fifty  crowns  every  quarter,  which  amount  the  ingenious  cheva- 
lier intrepidly  remitted  to  himself  as  an  annuity,  so  that  he 
might  not  appear  to  be  without  resources  in  a  country  with  a 
great  turn  for  practical  details.  Plenty  of  his  friends — he  was 


10  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

dead  by  that  time,  please  to  remark — plenty  of  his  friends  de- 
nied this  in  tola ;  they  maintained  that  the  stories  were  fables 
and  slanders  set  in  circulation  by  the  Liberal  party,  and  that 
M.  de  Valois  was  an  honorable  and  worthy  gentleman.  Luckily 
for  clever  gamblers,  there  will  always  be  champions  of  this 
sort  for  them  among  the  onlookers.  Feeling  ashamed  to 
excuse  wrongdoing,  they  stoutly  deny  that  wrong  has  been 
done.  Do  not  accuse  them  of  wrong-headedness  ;  they  have 
their  own  sense  of  self-respect,  and  the  Government  sets 
them  an  example  of  the  virtue  which  consists  in  burying  its 
dead  by  night  without  chanting  a  Te  Deum  over  a  defeat. 
And  suppose  that  M.  de  Valois  permitted  himself  a  neat 
stratagem  that  would  have  won  Gramont's  esteem,  a  smile  from 
Baron  de  Foeneste,  and  a  shake  of  the  hand  from  the  Marquis 
de  Moncade,  was  he  any  the  less  the  pleasant  dinner  guest,  the 
wit,  the  unvarying  card-player,  the  charming  retailer  of  anec- 
dotes, the  delight  of  Alencon  ?  In  what,  moreover,  does  the 
action,  lying,  as  it  does,  outside  the  laws  of  right  and  wrong, 
offend  against  the  elegant  code  of  a  man  of  birth  and  breed- 
ing ?  When  so  many  people  are  obliged  to  give  pensions  to 
others,  what  more  natural  than  of  one's  own  accord  to  allow 
an  annuity  to  one's  own  best  friend  ?  But  Laius  is  dead. 

After  some  fifteen  years  of  this  kind  of  life,  the  chevalier 
had  amassed  ten  thousand  and  some  odd  hundred  francs. 
When  the  Bourbons  returned,  he  said  that  an  old  friend  of 
his,  M.  le  Marquis  de  Pombreton,  late  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Black  Musketeers,  had  returned  a  loan  of  twelve  hundred 
pistoles  with  which  he  emigrated.  The  incident  made  a  sen- 
sation. It  was  quoted  afterward  as  a  set-off  against  droll 
stories  in  the  "  Constitutionnel  "  of  the  ways  in  which  some 
emigres  paid  their  debts.  The  poor  chevalier  used  to  blush 
all  over  the  right  side  of  his  face  whenever  this  noble  trait  in 
the  Marquis  de  Pombreton  came  up  in  conversation.  At  the 
time  every  one  rejoiced  with  M.  de  Valois ;  he  used  to  con- 
sult capitalists, as  to  the  best  way  of  investing  this  wreck  of 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          il 

his  former  fortune ;  and,  putting  faith  in  the  Restoration,  in- 
vested it  all  in  Government  stock  when  the  Funds  had  fallen 
to  fifty-six  francs  twenty-five  centimes.  MM.  de  Lenoncourt, 
de  Navarreins,  de  Verneuil,  de  Fontaine,  and  La  Billardiere, 
to  whom  he  was  known,  had  obtained  a  pension  of  a  hundred 
crowns  for  him  from  the  privy  purse,  he  said,  and  the  cross 
of  St.  Louis.  By  what  means  the  old  chevalier  obtained  the 
two  solemn  confirmations  of  his  title  and  quality,  no  one  ever 
knew ;  but  this  much  is  certain,  the  cross  of  St.  Louis  gave 
him  brevet  rank  as  a  colonel  on  a  retiring  pension,  by  reason 
of  his  services  with  the  Catholic  army  in  the  West. 

Beside  the  fiction  of  the  annuity,  to  which  no  one  gave  a 
thought,  the  chevalier  was  now  actually  possessed  of  a  genuine 
income  of  a  thousand  francs.  But  with  this  improvement  in 
his  circumstances  he  made  no  change  in  his  life  or  manners ; 
only — the  red  ribbon  looked  wondrous  well  on  his  maroon 
coat ;  it  was  a  finishing  touch,  as  it  were,  to  this  portrait  of  a 
gentleman.  Ever  since  the  year  1802  the  chevalier  had  aealed 
his  letters  with  an  ancient  gold  seal,  engraved  roughly  enough, 
but  not  so  badly  but  that  the  Casterans,  d'Esgrignons,  and 
Troisvilles  might  see  that  he  bore  the  arms  of  France  impaled 
with  his  own,  to  wit,  France  per  pale,  gules  two  bars  gemelles, 
a  cross  of  five  mascles  conjoined  or,  on  a  chief  sable  a  cross 
pattee  argent  over  all ;  with  a  knight's  casquet  for  crest  and 
the  motto — VALEO.  With  these  noble  arms  the  so-called 
bastard  Valois  was  entitled  to  ride  in  all  the  royal  coaches  in 
the  world. 

Plenty  of  people  envied  the  old  bachelor  his  easy  life,  made 
up  of  boston,  trictrac,  reversis,  whist,  and  piquet ;  of  good 
play,  dinners  well  digested,  pinches  of  snuff  gracefully  taken, 
and  quiet  walks  abroad.  Almost  all  Alenc.on  thought  that  his 
existence  was  empty  alike  of  ambitions  and  cares ;  but  where 
is  the  man  whose  life  is  quite  as  simple  as  they  suppose  who 
envy  him  ? 

In  the  remotest  country  village  you  shall  find  human  mol- 


12  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

luscs,  rotifers  inanimate  to  all  appearance,  which  cherish  a 
passion  for  lepidoptera  or  conchology,  and  are  at  infinite 
pains  to  acquire  some  new  butterfly,  or  a  specimen  of  Concha 
Vcncris.  And  the  chevalier  had  not  merely  shells  and  butter- 
flies of  his  own,  he  cherished  an  ambitious  desire  with  a  perti- 
nacity and  profound  strategy  worthy  of  a  Sixtus  V.  He  meant 
to  marry  a  rich  old  maid  ;  in  all  probability  because  a  wealthy 
marriage  would  be  a  stepping-stone  to  the  high  spheres  of  the 
Court.  This  was  the  secret  of  his  royal  bearing  and  prolonged 
abode  in  Alencon. 

Very  early  one  Tuesday  morning  in  the  middle  of  spring  in 
the  year  '16  (to  use  his  own  expression),  the  chevalier  was 
just  slipping  on  his  dressing-gown,  an  old-fashioned  green 
silk  damask  of  a  flowered  pattern,  when,  in  spite  of  the  cotton 
in  his  ears,  he  heard  a  girl's  light  footstep  on  the  stairs.  In 
another  moment  some  one  tapped  discreetly  three  times  on 
the  door,  and  then,  without  waiting  for  an  answer,  a  very 
handsome  damsel  slipped  like  a  snake  into  the  old  bachelor's 
apartment. 

"Ah,  Suzanne,  is  that  you?"  said  the  Chevalier  deValois, 
continuing  to  strop  his  razor.  "  What  are  you  here  for,  dear 
little  jewel  of  mischief?" 

"I  have  come  to  tell  you  something  which  perhaps  will 
give  you  as  much  pleasure  as  annoyance." 

"  Is  it  something  about  Cesarine?  " 

"  Much  I  trouble  myself  about  your  Cesarine,"  pouted  she, 
half  careless,  half  in  earnest. 

The  charming  Suzanne,  whose  escapade  was  to  exercise  so 
great  an  influence  on  the  lives  of  all  the  principal  characters 
in  this  story,  was  one  of  Mme.  Lardot's  laundry  girls.  And 
now  for  a  few  topographical  details: 

The  whole  first  floor  of  the  house  was  given  up  to  the 
laundry.  The  little  yard  was  a  drying  ground  where  em- 
broidered handkerchiefs,  collarettes,  lawn  slips,  cuffs,  frilled 
shirts,  cravats,  laces,  embroidered  petticoats,  all  the  fine  wash- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          13 

ing  of  the  best  houses  in  the  town,  in  short,  hung  out  along 
the  lines  of  hair  rope.  The  chevalier  used  to  say  that  he  was 
kept  informed  of  the  progress  of  the  receiver-general's  wife's 
flirtations  by  the  number  of  slips  thus  brought  to  light ;  and 
the  amount  of  frilled  shirts  and  cambric  cravats  varied  directly 
with  the  petticoats  and  collarettes.  By  this  system  of^double 
entry,  as  it  were,  he  detected  all  the  assignations  in  the  town ; 
but  the  chevalier  was  always  discreet,  he  never  let  fall  an 
epigram  that  might  have  closed  a  house  to  him.  And  yet  he 
was  a  witty  talker  !  For  which  reason  you  may  be  sure  that 
M.  de  Valois'  manners  were  of  the  finest,  while  his  talents,  as 
so  often  happens,  were  thrown  away  upon  a  narrow  circle. 
Still,  for  he  was  only  human  after  all,  he  sometimes  could  not 
resist  the  pleasure  of  a  searching  side-glance  which  made 
women  tremble,  and  nevertheless  they  liked  him  when  they 
found  out  how  profoundly  discreet  he  was,  how  full  of  sym- 
pathy for  their  pretty  frailties. 

Mme.  Lardot's  forewoman  and  factotum,  an  alarmingly 
ugly  spinster  of  five-and-forty,  occupied  the  rest  of  the  third 
floor  with  the  chevalier.  Her  door  on  the  landing  was  exactly 
opposite  his;  and  her  apartments,  like  his  own,  consisted  of 
two  rooms,  looking  respectively  upon  the  street  and  the  yard. 
Above,  there  was  nothing  but  the  attics  where  the  linen  was 
dried  in  winter.  Below  lodged  Mme.  Lardot's  grandfather. 
The  old  man,  Grevin  by  name,  had  been  a  privateer  in  his 
time,  and  had  served  under  Admiral  Simeuse  in  the  Indies ; 
now  he  was  paralyzed  and  stone  deaf.  Mme.  Lardot  herself 
occupied  the  rooms  beneath  her  forewoman,  and  so  great  was 
her  weakness  for  people  of  condition  that  she  might  be  said 
to  be  blind  where  the  chevalier  was  concerned.  In  her  eyes, 
M.  de  Valois  was  an  absolute  monarch,  a  king  that  could  do 
no  wrong ;  even  if  one  of  her  own  work-girls  had  been  said  to 
be  guilty  of  finding  favor  in  his  sight,  she  would  have  said, 
"  He  is  so  amiable  !" 

And  so,  if  M.  de  Valois,  like  most  people  in  the  provinces, 


14  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

lived  in  a  glass  house,  it  was  secret  as  a  robber's  cave  so  far 
as  he  at  least  was  concerned.  A  born  confidant  of  the  little 
intrigues  of  the  laundry,  he  never  passed  the  door — which 
always  stood  ajar — without  bringing  something  for  his  pets — 
chocolate,  bonbons,  ribbons,  laces,  a  gilt  cross,  and  the  jokes 
that  grisettes  love.  Wherefore  the  little  girls  adored  the 
chevalier.  Women  can  tell  by  instinct  whether  a  man  is  at- 
tracted to  anything  that  wears  a  petticoat ;  they  know  at  once 
the  kind  of  man  who  enjoys  the  mere  sense  of  their  presence, 
who  never  thinks  of  making  blundering  demands  of  repayment 
for  his  gallantry.  In  this  respect  womankind  has  a  canine 
faculty ;  a  dog  in  any  company  goes  straight  to  the  man  who 
respects  animals.  The  Chevalier  de  Valois  in  his  poverty  pre- 
served something  of  his  former  life ;  he  was  as  unable  to  live 
without  some  fair  one  under  his  protection  as  any  great  lord  of 
a  bygone  age.  He  clung  to  the  traditions  of  the  petite  maison.* 
He  loved  to  give  to  women,  and  women  alone  can  receive 
gracefully,  perhaps  because  it  is  always  in  their  power  to  repay. 

In  these  days,  when  every  lad  on  leaving  school  tries  his 
hand  at  unearthing  symbols  or  sifting  legends,  is  it  not  extra- 
ordinary that  no  one  has  explained  that  portent,  the  Courtesan 
of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  What  was  she  but  the  tourna- 
ment of  the  Sixteenth  in  another  shape  ?  In  1550  the  knights 
displayed  their  prowess  for  their  ladies;  in  1750  they  dis- 
played their  mistresses  at  Longchamps ;  to-day  they  run  their 
horses  over  the  course.  The  noble  of  every  age  has  done  his 
best  to  invent  a  life,  which  he,  and  he  only,  can  live.  The 
pointed  shoes  of  the  Fourteenth  Century  are  the  red  heels  of 
the  Eighteenth  ;  the  parade  of  a  mistress  was  one  fashion  in 
ostentation ;  the  sentiment  of  chivalry  and  the  knight-errant 
was  another. 

The  Chevalier  de  Valois  could  no  longer  ruin  himself  for  a 
mistress,  so  for  bonbons  wrapped  in  bank-bills  he  politely 
offered  a  bag  of  genuine  cracknels ;  and  to  the  credit  of 
*  Little  house  :  place  of  a  mistress'  installment. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          15 

Alencon,  be  it  said,  the  cracknels  caused  far  more  pleasure  to 
the  recipients  than  M.  d' Artois'  presents  of  carriages  or  silver- 
gilt  toilet  sets  ever  gave  to  the  fair  Duthe.  There  was  not  a 
girl  in  the  laundry  but  recognized  the  chevalier's  fallen  great- 
ness, and  kept  his  familiarities  in  the  house  a  profound  secret. 

In  answer  to  questions,  they  always  spoke  giravely  of  the 
Chevalier  de  Valois  ;  they  watched  over  him.  For  others  he 
became  a  venerable  gentleman,  his  life  was  a  flower  of  sanctity. 
But  at  home  they  would  have  lighted  on  his  shoulders  like 
paroquets. 

The  chevalier  liked  to  know  the  intimate  aspects  of  family 
life  which  laundresses  learn  ;  they  used  to  go  up  to  his  room 
of  a  morning  to  retail  the  gossip  of  the  town  ;  he  called  them 
his  "gazettes  in  petticoats,"  his  "living  feuilletons."  M. 
Sartine  himself  had  not  such  intelligent  spies  at  so  cheap  a 
rate,  nor  yet  so  loyal  in  their  rascality.  Remark,  moreover, 
that  the  chevalier  thoroughly  enjoyed  his  breakfasts. 

Suzanne  was  one  of  his  favorites.  A  clever  and  ambitious 
girl  with  the  stuff  of  a  Sophie  Arnould  in  her,  she  was  beside 
as  beautiful  as  the  loveliest  courtesan  that  Titian  ever  prayed 
to  pose  against  a  background  of  dark  velvet  as  a  model  for  his 
Venus.  Her  forehead  and  all  the  upper  part  of  her  face  about 
the  eyes  were  delicately  moulded  ;  but  the  contours  of  the 
lower  half  were  cast  in  a  commoner  mould.  Hers  was  the 
beauty  of  a  Norman,  fresh,  plump,  and  brilliant-complexioned, 
with  that  Rubens  fleshiness  which  should  be  combined  with 
the  muscular  development  of  the  Farnese  Hercules.  This  was 
no  Venus  dei  Me  ici,  the  graceful  feminine  counterpart  of 
Apollo. 

"Well,  child,"  said  the  chevalier,  "  tell  me  your  adventures 
little  or  big." 

The  chevalier's  fatherly  benignity  with  these  grisettes  would 
have  marked  him  out  anywhere  between  Paris  and  Pekin. 
The  girls  put  him  in  mind  of  the  courtesans  of  another  age,  of 
the  illustrious  queens  of  opera  of  European  fame  during  a  good 


16  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

third  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Certain  it  is  that  he  who 
had  lived  for  so  long  in  a  world  of  women  now  as  dead  and 
forgotten  as  the  Jesuits,  the  buccaneers,  the  abbes,  and  the 
farmers-general,  and  all  great  things  generally — certain  it  is 
that  the  chevalier  had  acquired  an  irresistible  good-humor,  a 
gracious  ease,  an  unconcern,  with  no  trace  of  egoism  discern- 
ible in  it.  So  might  Jupiter  have  appeared  to  Alcmena — a 
king  that  chooses  to  be  a  woman's  dupe,  and  flings  majesty 
and  its  thunderbolts  to  the  winds,  that  he  may  squander 
Olympus  in  follies,  and  "little  suppers,"  and  feminine  ex- 
travagance ;  wishful,  of  all  things,  to  be  far  enough  away 
from  Juno. 

The  room  in  which  the  chevalier  received  company  was 
bare  enough,  with  its  shabby  bit  of  tapestry  to  do  duty  as  a 
carpet,  and  very  dirty,  old-fashioned  easy-chairs;  the  walls 
were  covered  with  a  cheap  paper,  on  which  the  countenances 
of  Louis  XVI.  and  his  family,  framed  in  weeping  willow, 
appeared  at  intervals  among  funeral  urns,  bearing  the  sublime 
testament  by  way  of  inscription,  amid  a  whole  host  of  senti- 
mental emblems  invented  by  royalism  under  the  Terror; 
but  in  spite  of  all  this,  in  spite  of  the  old,  flowered  green  silk 
dressing-gown,  in  spite  of  its  owner's  air  of  dilapidation,  a 
certain  fragrance  of  the  eighteenth  century  clung  about  the 
Chevalier  de  Valois  as  he  shaved  himself  before  the  old- 
fashioned  toilet  glass,  covered  with  cheap  lace.  All  the 
graceless  graces  of  his  youth  seemed  to  reappear;  he  might 
have  had  three  hundred  thousand  francs'  worth  of  debts  to 
his  name  and  a  chariot  at  his  door.  He  looked  a  great  man, 
great  as  Berthier  in  the  Retreat  from  Moscow  issuing  the 
order  of  the  day  to  battalions  which  were  no  more. 

"  Monsieur  le  Chevalier,"  Suzanne  replied  archly,  "it  seems 
to  me  that  I  have  nothing  to  tell  you — you  have  only  to 
look!" 

So  saying,  she  turned  and  stood  sideways  to  prove  her 
words  by  ocular  demonstration  ;  and  the  chevalier,  deep  old 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          17 

gentleman,  still  holding  his  razor  across  his  chin,  cast  his 
right  eye  downward  upon  the  damsel,  and  pretended  to 
understand. 

"Very  good,  my  little  pet,  we  will  have  a  little  talk 
together  presently.  But  you  come  first,  it  seems  to  me." 

"But,  Monsieur  le  Chevalier,  am  I  to  wait  till  my  mother 
beats  me  and  Madame  Lardot  turns  me  away  ?  If  I  do  not 
go  to  Paris  at  once,  I  shall  never  get  married  here,  where  the 
men  are  so  ridiculous." 

"  These  things  cannot  be  helped,  child  !  Society  changes, 
and  women  suffer  just  as  much  as  the  nobles  from  the  shock- 
ing confusion  which  ensues.  Topsy-turvydom  in  politics  ends 
in  topsy-turvy  manners.  Alas  !  woman  soon  will  cease  to  be 
woman  "  (here  he  took  the  cotton-wool  out  of  his  ears  to 
continue  his  toilet).  "Women  will  lose  a  great  deal  by 
plunging  into  sentiment ;  they  will  torture  their  nerves,  and 
there  will  be  an  end  of  the  good  old  ways  of  our  time,  when 
a  little  pleasure  was  desired  without  blushes,  and  accepted 
without  more  ado,  and  the  vapors  "  (he  polished  the  earrings 
with  the  negroes'  heads) — "  the  vapors  were  only  known  as  a 
means  of  getting  one's  way;  before  long  they  will  take  the 
proportions  of  a  complaint  only  to  be  cured  by  an  infusion 
of  orange-blossoms."  (The  chevalier  burst  out  laughing.) 
"Marriage,  in  short,"  he  resumed,  taking  a  pair  of  tweezers 
to  pluck  out  a  gray  hair,  "  marriage  will  come  to  be  a  very 
dull  institution  indeed,  and  it  was  so  joyous  in  my  time.  The 
reign  of  Louis  Quatorze  and  Louis  Quinze  (bear  this  in 
mind,  my  child)  saw  the  last  of  the  finest  manners  in  the 
world." 

"But,  Monsieur  le  Chevalier,"  urged  the  girl,  "it  is  your 
little  Suzanne's  character  and  reputation  that  is  at  stake,  and 
you  are  not  going  to  forsake  her,  I  hope  !  " 

"What  is  all  this?"  cried  the  chevalier,  with  a  finishing 
touch  to  his  hair ;  "  I  would  sooner  lose  my  name  !  " 

"Ah!"  said  Suzanne. 
2 


18  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"Listen  to  me,  little  masquerader. "  He  sat  down  in  a 
large,  low  chair,  a  duchcssc,  as  it  used  to  be  called,  which 
Mme.  Lardot  had  picked  up  somewhere  for  her  lodger.  Then 
he  drew  the  magnificent  Suzanne  to  him  till  she  stood  between 
his  knees;  and  Suzanne  submitted — Suzanne  who  held  her 
head  so  high  in  the  streets,  and  had  refused  a  score  of  over- 
tures from  admirers  in  Alenson,  not  so  much  from  self-respect 
as  in  disdain  of  their  pettiness.  Suzanne  so  brazenly  made 
the  most  of  the  supposed  consequences  of  her  errors  that  the 
old  sinner,  who  had  fathomed  so  many  mysteries  in  persons 
far  more  astute  than  Suzanne,  saw  the  real  state  of  affairs 
at  once.  He  knew  well  enough  that  a  grisette  does  not 
laugh  when  disgrace  is  really  in  question,  but  he  scorned 
to  throw  down  the  scaffolding  of  an  engaging  fib  with  a 
touch. 

"  We  are  slandering  ourselves,"  said  he,  and  there  was  an 
inimitable  subtlety  in  his  smile.  "  We  are  as  well  conducted 
as  the  fair  one  whose  name  we  bear ;  we  can  marry  without 
fear.  But  we  do  not  want  to  vegetate  here ;  we  long  for 
Paris,  where  charming  creatures  can  be  rich  if  they  are  clever, 
and  we  are  not  a  fool.  So  we  should  like  to  find  out  whether 
the  City  of  Pleasure  has  young  Chevaliers  de  Valois  in  store 
for  us,  and  a  carriage  and  diamonds  and  an  opera  box. 
There  are  Russians  and  English  and  Austrians  that  are  bring- 
ing millions  to  spend  in  Paris,  and  some  of  that  money  mamma 
settled  on  us  as  a  marriage-portion  when  she  gave  us  our  good 
looks.  And  beside,  we  are  patriotic ;  we  should  like  to  help 
France  to  find  her  own  money  in  these  gentlemen's  pockets. 
Eh  !  eh  !  my  dear  little  devil's  lamb,  all  this  is  not  bad.  The 
neighbors  will  cry  out  upon  you  a  little  at  first,  perhaps,  but 
success  will  make  everything  right.  The  real  crime,  my  child, 
is  poverty ;  and  you  and  I  both  suffer  for  it.  As  we  are  not 
lacking  in  intelligence,  we  thought  we  might  turn  our  dear 
little  reputation  to  account  to  take  in  an  old  bachelor,  but 
the  old  bachelor,  sweetheart,  knows  the  alpha  and  omega  of 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.  19 

woman's  wiles;  which  is  to  say,  that  you  would  find  it  easier 
to  put  a  grain  of  salt  upon  a  sparrow's  tail  than  to  persuade 
me,  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  to  believe  that  I  have  had  any 
share  in  your  affair. 

"  Go  to  Paris,  my  child,  go  at  the  expense  of  a  bachelor's 
vanity ;  I  am  not  going  to  hinder  you,  I  will  help  you,  for  the 
old  bachelor,  Suzanne,  is  the  cash-box  provided  by  nature  for 
a  young  girl.  But  do  not  thrust  me  into  the  affair.  Now, 
listen,  my  queen,  understanding  life  so  well  a,s  you  do — you 
see,  you  might  do  me  a  good  deal  of  harm  and  give  me 
trouble ;  harm,  because  you  might  spoil  my  marriage  in  a 
place  where  people  are  so  particular ;  trouble  on  your  account, 
because  you  will  get  yourself  in  a  scrape  for  nothing,  a  scrape 
entirely  of  your  own  invention,  sly  girl ;  and  you  know,  my 
pet,  that  I  have  no  money  left,  I  am  as  poor  as  a  church 
mouse.  Ah !  if  I  were  to  marry  Mademoiselle  Cormon,  if  I 
were  rich  again,  I  would  certainly  rather  have  you  than 
Cesarine.  You  were  always  fine  gold  enough  to  gild  lead,  it 
seemed  to  me  ;  you  were  made  to  be  a  great  lord's  love ;  and 
as  I  knew  you  were  a  clever  girl,  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  by 
this  trick  of  yours,  I  expected  as  much.  For  a  girl,  this 
means  that  you  burn  your  boats.  It  is  no  common  mind, 
my  angel,  that  can  do  it ;  and  for  that  reason  you  have  my 
esteem,"  and  he  bestowed  confirmation  upon  her  cheek  after 
the  manner  of  a  bishop,  with  two  fingers. 

"  But,  Monsieur  le  Chevalier,  I  do  assure  you  that  you  are 

mistaken,   and "   she  blushed,  and  dared  not  finish  her 

sentence,  at  a  glance  he  had  seen  through  her,  and  read  her 
plans  from  beginning  to  end. 

"Yes,  I  understand,  you  wish  me  to  believe  you.  Very 
well,  I  believe.  But  take  my  advice  and  go  to  Monsieur  du 
Bousquier.  You  have  taken  Monsieur  du  Bousquier's  linen 
home  from  the  wash  for  five  or  six  months,  have  you  not  ? 
Very  good.  I  do  not  ask  to  know  what  has  happened  between 
you;  but  I  know  him,  he  is  vain,  he  is  an  old  bachelor,  he  is 


20  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

very  -rich,  he  has  an  income  of  two  thousand  five  hundred 
livres,  and  spends  less  than  eight  hundred.  If  you  are  the 
clever  girl  that  I  take  you  for,  you  will  find  your  way  to  Paris 
at  his  expense.  Go  to  him,  my  pet,  twist  him  round  your 
fingers,  and  of  all  things  be  supple  as  silk,  and  make  a  double 
twist  and  a  knot  at  every  word ;  he  is  just  the  man  to  be  afraid 
of  a  scandal ;  and  if  he  knows  that  you  can  make  him  sit 

on  the  stool  of  repentance In  short,  you  understand, 

threaten  to  apply  to  the  ladies  of  the  charitable  fund.  He  is 
ambitious  beside.  Well  and  good,  with  a  wife  to  help  him 
there  should  be  nothing  beyond  a  man's  reach ;  and  are  you 
not  handsome  enough  and  clever  enough  to  make  your  hus- 
band's fortune?  Why,  plague  take  it,  you  might  hold  your 
own  with  a  court  lady." 

The  chevalier's  last  words  let  the  light  into  Suzanne's  brain; 
she  was  burning  with  impatience  to  rush  off  to  du  Bousquier; 
but  as  she  could  not  hurry  away  too  abruptly,  she  helped  the 
chevalier  to  dress,  asking  questions  about  Paris  as  she  did  so. 
As  for  the  chevalier,  he  saw  that  his  remarks  had  taken  effect, 
and  gave  Suzanne  an  excuse  to  go,  asking  her  to  tell  Cesarine 
to  bring  up  the  chocolate  that  Mme.  Lardot  made  for  him 
every  morning,  and  Suzanne  forthwith  slipped  off  in  search  of 
her  prey. 

And  here  follows  du  Bousquier's  biography.  He  came  of 
an  old  Alengon  family  in  a  middle  rank  between  the  burghers 
and  the  country  squires.  On  the  death  of  his  father,  a  magis- 
trate in  the  criminal  court,  he  was  left  without  resource,  and, 
like  most  ruined  provincials,  betook  himself  to  Paris  to  seek 
his  fortune.  When  the  Revolution  broke  out,  du  Bousquier 
was  a  man  of  affairs ;  and  in  those  days  (in  spite  of  the  Re- 
publicans, who  are  all  up  in  arms  for  the  honesty  of  their 
government)  the  word  "affairs"  was  used  very  loosely.  Po- 
litical spies,  jobbers,  and  contractors,  the  men  who  arranged 
with  the  syndics  of  communes  for  the  sale  of  the  property  of 
emigres,  and  then  brought  up  land  at  low  prices  to  sell  again 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.  21 

— all  these  people,  like  ministers  and  generals,  were  men  of 
affairs. 

From  1793  to  1799  du  Bousquier  held  contracts  to  supply 
the  army  with  forage  and  provisions.  During  those  years  he 
lived  in  a  splendid  mansion ;  he  was  one  of  the  great  capital- 
ists of  the  time ;  he  went  shares  with  Ouvrard ;  k£ pt  open 
house  and  led  the  scandalous  life  of  the  times.  A  Cincinna- 
tus,  reaping  where  he  had  not  sowed,  and  rich  with  stolen 
rations  and  sacks  of  corn,  he  kept  petites  maisons  and  a  bevy 
of  mistresses,  and  gave  fine  entertainments  to  the  directors  of 
the  Republic.  Citizen  du  Bousquier  was  one  of  Barras'  in- 
timates ;  he  was  on  the  best  of  terms  with  Fouche,  and  hand 
and  glove  with  Bernadotte.  He  thought  to  be  a  minister  of 
State  one  day,  and  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  party 
that  secretly  plotted  against  Bonaparte  before  the  battle  of 
Marengo.  And  but  for  Kellermann's  charge  and  the  death  of 
Desaix,  du  Bousquier  would  have  played  a  great  part  in  the 
State.  He  was  one  of  the  upper  members  of  the  permanent 
staff  of  the  promiscuous  government  which  was  driven  by 
Napoleon's  luck  to  vanish  into  the  side-scenes  of  1793.* 

The  victory  unexpectedly  won  by  stubborn  fighting  ended 
in  the  downfall  of  this  party ;  they  had  placards  ready  printed, 
and  were  only  waiting  for  the  First  Consul's  defeat  to  proclaim 
a  return  to  the  principles  of  the  Mountain. 

Du  Bousquier,  feeling  convinced  that  a  victory  was  impos- 
sible, had  two  special  messengers  on  the  battlefield,  and  spec- 
ulated with  the  larger  part  of  his  fortune  for  a  fall  in  the  Funds. 
The  first  courier  came  with  the  news  that  Melas  was  victorious ; 
but  the  second  arriving  four  hours  afterward,  at  night,  brought 
the  tidings  of  the  Austrian  defeat.  Du  Bousquier  cursed  Kel- 
lermann  and  Desaix ;  the  First  Consul  owed  him  millions,  he 
dared  not  curse  him.  But  between  the  chance  of  making  mil- 
lions on  the  one  hand,  and  stark  ruin  on  the  other,  he  lost  his 
head.  For  several  days  he  was  half  idiotic ;  he  had  under- 
*  See  "  A  Historical  Mystery." 


22  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

mined  his  constitution  with  excesses  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
thunderbolt  left  him  helpless.  He  had  something  to  hope 
from  the  settlement  of  his  claims  upon  the  Government ;  but 
in  spite  of  bribes,  he  was  made  to  feel  the  weight  of  Napoleon's 
displeasure  against  army  contractors  who  speculated  on  his 
defeat.  M.  de  Fermon,  so  pleasantly  nicknamed  "Fermons 
la  caisse,"  left  du  Bousquier  without  a  penny.  The  First 
Consul  was  even  more  incensed  by  the  immorality  of  his  pri- 
vate life  and  his  connection  with  Barras  and  Bernadotte  than 
by  his  speculations  on  the  Bourse ;  he  erased  M.  du  Bousquier's 
name  from  the  list  of  receivers-general,  on  which  a  last  remnant 
of  credit  had  placed  him  for  Alencon. 

Of  all  his  former  wealth,  nothing  now  remained  to  du 
Bousquier  save  an  income  of  twelve  hundred  francs  from  the 
Funds,  an  investment  entirely  due  to  chance,  which  saved 
him  from  actual  want.  His  creditors,  knowing  nothing  of 
the  results  of  his  liquidation,  only  left  him  enough  in  consols 
to  bring  in  a  thousand  francs  per  annum ;  but  their  claims 
were  paid:  in  full  after  all,  when  the  outstanding  debts  had 
been  collected,  and  the  Hotel  de  Beauseant,  du  Bousquier's 
town  house,  sold  beside.  So,  after  a  close  shave  of  bank- 
ruptcy, the  sometime  speculator  emerged  with  his  name  intact. 
Preceded  by  a  tremendous  reputation  due  to  his  relations  with 
former  heads  of  government  departments,  his  manner  of  life, 
his  brief  day  of  authority,  and  final  ruin  through  the  First 
Consul,  the  man  interested  the  city  Alencon,  where  Royalism 
was  secretly  predominant.  Du  Bousquier,  exasperated  against 
Bonaparte,  with  his  tales  of  the  First  Consul's  pettiness,  of 
Josephine's  lax  morals,  and  a  whole  store  of  anecdotes  of  ten 
years  of  revolution,  seen  from  within,  met  with  a  good  recep- 
tion. 

It  was  about  this  period  of  his  life  that  du  Bousquier,  now 
well  over  his  fortieth  year,  came  out  as  a  bachelor  of  thirty- 
six.  He  was  of  medium  height,  fat  as  became  a  contractor, 
and  willing  to  display  a 'pair  of  calves  that  would  have  done 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          23 

credit  to  a  gay  and  gallant  attorney.  He  had  strongly  marked 
features;  a  flattened  nose  with  tufts  of  hair  in  the  equine 
nostrils ;  bushy  black  brows,  and  eyes  beneath  them  that 
looked  out  shrewd  as  M.  de  Talleyrand's  own,  though  they 
had  lost  something  of  their  brightness.  He  wore  his  brown 
hair  very  long,  and  retained  the  side-whiskers  (nageoires,  as 
they  were  called)  of  the  time  of  the  Republic.  You  had 
only  to  look  at  his  fingers,  tufted  at  every  joint,  or  at  the  blue 
knotted  veins  that  stood  out  upon  his  hands,  to  see  the  unmis- 
takable signs  of  a  very  remarkable  muscular  development; 
and,  in  truth,  he  had  the  chest  of  the  Farnese  Hercules,  and 
shoulders  fit  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  national  debt ;  you 
never  see  such  shoulders  nowadays.  His  was  a  luxuriant 
virility  admirably  described  by  an  eighteenth-century  phrase 
which  is  scarcely  intelligible  to-day;  the  gallantry  of  a  by- 
gone age  would  have  summed  up  du  Bousquier  as  a  "payer 
of  arrears  " — un  vrai pay  cur  d*  arrZrages. 

Yet,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  there  were 
sundry  indications  at  variance  with  the  ex-contractor's  general 
appearance.  His  vocal  powers,  for  instance,  were  not  in 
keeping  with  his  muscles ;  not  that  it  was  the  mere  thread  of 
a  voice  which  sometimes  issues  from  the  throats  of  such  two- 
footed  seals ;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  loud  but  husky,  some- 
thing like  the  sound  of  a  saw  cutting  through  damp,  soft 
wood ;  it  was,  in  fact,  the  voice  of  a  speculator  brought  to 
grief.  For  a  long  while  du  Bousquier  wore  the  costume  in 
vogue  in  the  days  of  his  glory :  the  boots  with  turned-down 
tops,  the  white  silk  stockings,  the  short  cloth  breeches, 
ribbed  with  cinnamon  color,  the  blue  coat,  the  Robespierre 
vest. 

His  hatred  of  the  First  Consul  should  have  been  a  sort  of 
passport  into  the  best  Royalist  houses  of  Alencon  ;  but  the 
seven  or  eight  families  that  made  up  the  local  Faubourg 
Saint-Germain,  into  which  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  had  the 
entrance,  held  aloof.  Almost  from  the  first,  du  Bousquier  had 


24  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

aspired  to  marry  one  Mile.  Armande,  whose  brother  was  one 
of  the  most  esteemed  nobles  of  the  town  ;  he  thought  to  make 
this  brother  play  a  great  part  in  his  own  schemes,  for  he  was 
dreaming  of  a  brilliant  return  match  in  politics.  He  met  with 
a  refusal,  for  which  he  consoled  himself  with  such  compensation 
as  he  might  find  among  some  half-score  of  retired  manufac- 
turers of  Point  d'  Alencon  lace,  owners  of  grass  lands  or  cattle, 
or  wholesale  linen  merchants,  thinking  that  among  these 
chance  might  put  a  good  match  in  his  way.  Indeed,  the  old 
bachelor  had  centred  all  his  hopes  on  a  prospective  fortunate 
marriage,  which  a  man,  eligible  in  so  many  ways,  might  fairly 
expect  to  make.  For  he  was  not  without  a  certain  financial 
acumen,  of  which  not  a  few  availed  themselves.  He  pointed 
out  business  speculations  as  a  ruined  gambler  gives  hints  to 
new  hands  ;  and  he  was  expert  at  discovering  the  resources, 
chances,  and  management  of  a  concern.  People  looked  upon 
him  as  a  good  administrator.  It  was  an  often-discussed  ques- 
tion whether  he  should  not  be  mayor  of  Alencon,  but  the 
recollection  of  his  Republican  jobberies  spoiled  his  chances, 
and  he  was  never  received  at  the  prefecture. 

Every  successive  government,  even  the  government  of  the 
Hundred  Days,  declined  to  give  him  the  coveted  appointment, 
which  would  have  assured  his  marriage  with  an  elderly  spinster 
whom  he  now  had  in  his  mind.  It  was  his  detestation  of  the 
Imperial  Government  that  drove  him  into  the  Royalist  camp, 
where  he  stayed  in  spite  of  insults  there  received ;  but  when 
the  Bourbons  returned,  and  still  he  was  excluded  from  the 
prefecture,  that  final  rebuff  filled  him  with  a  hatred  deep  as 
the  profound  secrecy  in  which  he  wrapped  it.  Outwardly,  he 
remained  patiently  faithful  to  his  opinions ;  secretly,  he  be- 
came the  leader  of  the  Liberal  party  in  Alencon,  the  invisible 
controller  of  elections ;  and,  by  his  cunningly  devised  manoeu- 
vres and  underhand  methods,  he  worked  no  little  harm  to  the 
restored  Monarchy. 

When  a  man  is  reduced  to  live  through  his  intellect  alone, 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          25 

his  hatred  is  something  as  quiet  as  a  little  stream ;  insignifi- 
cant to  all  appearance,  but  unfailing.  This  was  the  case  with 
du  Bousquier.  His  hatred  was  like  a  negro's,  so  placid,  so 
patient,  that  it  deceives  the  enemy.  For  fifteen  years  he 
brooded  over  a  revenge  which  no  victory,  not  even  the  Three 
Days  of  July,  1830,  could  sate. 

When  the  chevalier  sent  Suzanne  to  du  Bousquier,  he  had 
his  own  reasons  for  so  doing.  The  Liberal  and  the  Royalist 
divined  each  other,  in  spite  of  the  skillful  dissimulation  which 
hid  their  common  aim  from  the  rest  of  the  town. 

The  two  old  bachelors  were  rivals.  Both  of  them  had 
planned  to  marry  the  Demoiselle  Cormon,  whose  name  came 
up  in  the  course  of  the  chevalier's  conversation  with  Suzanne. 
Both  of  them,  engrossed  by  their  idea  and  masquerading  in 
indifference,  were  waiting  for  the  moment  when  some  chance 
should  deliver  the  old  maid  to  one  or  other  of  them.  And 
the  fact  that  they  were  rivals  in  this  way  would  have  been 
enough  to  make  enemies  of  the  pair  even  if  each  had  not  been 
the  living  embodiment  of  a  political  system. 

Men  take  their  color  from  their  time.  This  pair  of  rivals 
is  a  case  in  point ;  the  historic  tinge  of  their  characters  stood 
out  in  strong  contrast  in  their  talk,  their  ideas,  their  costume. 
The  one,  blunt  and  energetic,  with  his  burly  abrupt  ways, 
curt  speech,  dark  looks,  dark  hair,  and  dark  complexion, 
alarming  in  appearance,  but  impotent  in  reality  as  insurrec- 
tion, was  the  Republic  personified ;  the  other,  bland  and 
polished,  elegant  and  fastidious,  gaining  his  ends  slowly  but 
surely  by  diplomacy,  and  never  unmindful  of  good  taste,  was 
the  typical  old-world  courtier.  They  met  on  the  same  ground 
almost  every  evening.  It  was  a  rivalry  always  courteous  and 
urbane  on  the  part  of  the  chevalier,  less  ceremonious  on  du 
Bousquier's,  though  he  kept  within  the  limits  prescribed  by 
Alencon,  for  he  had  no  wish  to  be  driven  ignominiously  from 
the  field.  The  two  men  understood  each  other  well ;  but  no 
one  else  saw  what  was  going  on.  In  spite  of  the  minute  and 


26  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

curious  interest  which  provincials  take  in  the  small  details  of 
which  their  lives  are  made  up,  no  one  so  much  as  suspected 
that  the  two  men  were  rivals. 

M.  le  Chevalier's  position  was  somewhat  the  stronger;  he 
had  never  proposed  for  Mile.  Cormon,  whereas  du  Bousquier 
had  declared  himself  after  a  rebuff  from  one  of  the  noblest  fami- 
lies, and  had  met  with  a  second  refusal.  Still,  the  chevalier 
thought  so  well  of  his  rival's  chances  that  he  considered  it 
worth  while  to  deal  him  a  coup  de  Jarnac,  a  treacherous  thrust 
from  a  weapon  as  finely  tempered  as  Suzanne.  He  had  fath- 
omed du  Bousquier ;  and,  as  will  shortly  be  seen,  he  was  not 
mistaken  in  any  of  his  conjectures. 

Suzanne  tripped  away  down  the  Rue  du  Cours,  along  the 
Rue  de  la  Porte  de  Seez  and  the  Rue  du  Bercail  to  the  Rue 
du  Cygne,  where  du  Bousquier,  five  years  ago,  had  bought  a 
small  countrified  house  built  of  the  gray  stone  of  the  district, 
which  is  used  like  granite  in  Normandy,  or  Breton  schist  in 
the  West.  The  sometime  forage-contractor  had  established 
himself  there  in  more  comfort  than  any  other  house  in  the 
town  could  boast,  for  he  had  brought  with  him  some  relics  of 
past  days  : of  splendor;  but  provincial  manners  and  customs 
were  slowly  darkening  the  glory  of  the  fallen  Sardanapalus. 
The  vestiges  of  past  luxury  looked  about  as  much  out  of  place 
in  the  house  as  a  chandelier  in  a  barn.  Harmony,  which  links 
the  works  of  man  or  of  God  together,  was  lacking  in  all 
things  large  or  small.  A  ewer  with  a  metal  lid,  such  as  you 
only  see  on  the  outskirts  of  Brittany,  stood  on  a  handsome 
nest  of  drawers  ;  and  while  the  bedroom  floor  was  covered 
with  a  fine  carpet,  the  window-curtains  displayed  a  flower  pat- 
tern only  known  to  cheap,  printed  cottons.  The  stone  mantel- 
piece, daubed  over  with  paint,  was  out  of  all  keeping  with  a 
handsome  clock  disgraced  by  a  shabby  pair  of  candlesticks. 
Local  talent  had  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  paint  the 
doors  in  vivid  contrasts  of  startling  colors ;  while  the  stair- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          27 

case,  ascended  by  all  and  sundry  in  muddy  boots,  had  not 
been  painted  at  all.  In  short,  du  Bousquier's  house,  like  the 
time  which  he  represented,  was  a  confused  mixture  of  grandeur 
and  squalor.  * 

Du  Bousquier  was  regarded  as  well-to-do,  but  he  led  the 
parasitical  life  of  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  and  he  is  always 
rich  enough  that  spends  less  than  his  income.  His  one  ser- 
vant was  a  country  bumpkin,  a  dull-witted  youth  enough  ;  but 
he  had  been  trained,  by  slow  degrees,  to  suit  du  Bousquier's 
requirements,  until  he  had  learned,  much  as  an  ourang-outang 
might  learn,  to  scour  floors,  black  boots,  brush  clothes,  and  to 
come  for  his  master  of  an  evening  with  a  lantern  if  it  was  dark, 
and  a  pair  of  sabots  if  it  rained.  On  great  occasions,  du 
Bousquier  made  him  discard  the  blue-checked  cotton  blouse 
with  loose  sagging  pockets  behind,  which  always  bulged  with 
a  handkerchief,  a  clasp  knife,  apples,  or  "stickjaw  taffy." 
Arrayed  in  a  regulation  suit  of  clothes,  he  accompanied  his 
master  to  wait  at  table,  and  overate  himself  afterward  with 
the  other  servants.  Like  many  other  mortals,  Rene  had  only 
stuff  enough  in  him  for  one  vice,  and  his  was  gluttony.  Du 
Bousquier  made  a  reward  of  this  service,  and  in  return  his 
Breton  factotum  was  absolutely  discreet. 

"What,  have  you  come  our  way,  miss?  "  Rene  asked  when 
he  saw  Suzanne  in  the  doorway.  "It  is  not  your  day;  we 
have  not  got  any  linen  for  Madame  Lardot." 

"Big  stupid  !  "  laughed  the  fair  Suzanne,  as  she  went  up 
the  stairs,  leaving  Rene  to  finish  a  porringer  full  of  buckwheat 
bannocks  boiled  in  milk. 

Du  Bousquier  was  still  in  bed,  ruminating  his  plans  for 
fortune.  To  him,  as  to  all  who  have  squeezed  the  orange  of 
pleasure,  there  was  nothing  left  but  ambition.  Ambition, 
like  gambling,  is  inexhaustible.  And,  moreover,  given  a 
good  constitution,  the  passions  of  the  brain  will  always  out- 
live the  heart's  passions. 

"  Here  I  am  !  "  said  Suzanne,  sitting  down  on  the  bed;  the 


28  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

curtain-rings  grated  along  the  rods  as  she  swept  them  sharply 
back  with  an  imperious  gesture. 

"Quesaco,  my  charmer?"  asked  du  Bousquier,  sitting 
upright. 

"Monsieur,"  Suzanne  began,  with  much  gravity,  "you 
must  be  surprised  to  see  me  come  in  this  way ;  but,  under 
the  circumstances,  it  is  no  use  my  minding  what  people  will 
say." 

"What  is  all  this  about?"  asked  du  Bousquier,  folding  his 
arms. 

"Why,  do  you  not  understand?/'  returned  Suzanne.  "I 
know"  (with  an  engaging  little  pout),  "I  know  how  ridicu- 
lous it  is  when  a  poor  girl  comes  to  bother  a  man  about  things 
that  you  think  mere  trifles.  But  if  you  really  knew  me,  mon- 
sieur, if  you  only  knew  all  that  I  would  do  for  a  man,  if  he 
cared  about  me  as  I  could  care  about  you,  you  would  never 
repent  of  marrying  me.  It  is  not  that  I  could  be  of  so  much' 
use  to  you  here,  by  the  way;  but  if  we  went  to  Paris,  you  should 
see  how  far  I  could  bring  a  man  of  spirit  with  such  brains  as 
yours,  and  especially  just  now,  when  they  are  re-making  the 
Government  from  top  to  bottom,  and  the  foreigners  are  the 
masters.  Between  ourselves,  does  this  thing  in  question  really 
matter  after  all  ?  Is  it  not  a  piece  of  good  fortune  for  which 
you  would  be  glad  to  pay  a  good  deal  one  of  these  days? 
For  whom  are  you  going  to  think  and  work?" 

"For  myself,  to  be  sure!"  du  Bousquier  answered  most 
brutally. 

"  Old  monster !  you  shall  never  be  a  father  !  "  said  Suzanne, 
with  a  ring  in  her  voice  which  turned  the  words  to  a  prophecy 
and  a  curse. 

"Come,  Suzanne,  no  nonsense;  I  am  dreaming  still,  I 
think." 

"  What  more  do  you  want  in  the  way  of  reality?"  cried 
Suzanne,  rising  to  her  feet.  Du  Bousquier  scrubbed  his  head 
with  his  cotton  nightcap,  which  he  twisted  round  and  round 


THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          29 

with  a  fidgety  energy  that  told  plainly  of  prodigious  mental 
ferment. 

"He  actually  believes  it!"  Suzanne  said  within  herself. 
"And  his  vanity  is  tickled.  Good  Lord,  how  easy  it  is  to 
take  them  in  !  " 

"Suzanne  !  What  the  deuce  do  you  want  me  to  do?  It 

is  so  extraordinary I  that  thought The  fact  is 

But  no,  no,  it  can't  be " 

"  Do  you  mean  that  you  cannot  marry  me?" 

"Oh,  as  to  that,  no.     I  am  not  free." 

"Is  it  Mademoiselle  Armande  or  Mademoiselle  Cormon, 
who  have  both  refused  you  already?  Look  here,  Monsieur 
du  Bousquier,  it  is  not  as  if  I  was  obliged  to  get  gendarmes  to 
drag  you  to  the  registrar's  office  to  save  my  character.  There 
are  plenty  that  would  marry  me,  but  I  have  no  intention 
whatever  of  taking  a  man  that  does  not  know  my  value.  You 
may  be  sorry  some  of  these  days  that  you  behaved  like  this ; 
for  if  you  will  not  take  your  chance  to-day,  not  for  gold,  nor 
silver,  nor  anything  in  this  world  will  I  give  it  you  again." 

"  But,  Suzanne — are  you  sure ?  " 

"Sir,  for  what  do  you  take  me?"  asked  the  girl,  draping 
herself  in  her  virtue.  "  I  am  not  going  to  put  you  in  mind 
of  the  promises  you  made,  promises  that  have  been  the  ruin 
of  a  poor  girl,  when  all  her  fault  was  that  she  looked  too  high 
and  loved  too  much." 

But  joy,  suspicion,  self-interest,  and  a  host  of  contending 
emotions  had  taken  possession  of  du  Bousquier.  For  a  long 
time  past  he  had  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  marry  Mile. 
Cormon  ;  for,  after  long  ruminations  over  the  Charter,  he 
saw  that  it  opened  up  magnificent  prospects  to  his  ambition 
through  the  channels  of  a  representative  government.  His 
marriage  with  that  mature  spinster  would  raise  his  social  posi- 
tion very  much ;  he  would  acquire  a  great  influence  in  Alen^on. 
And  here  this  wily  Suzanne  had  conjured  up  a  storm,  which 
put  him  in  a  most  awkward  dilemma  But  for  that  private 


30  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

hope  of  his,  he  would  have  married  Suzanne  out  of  hand,  and 
put  himself  openly  at  the  head  of  the  Liberal  party  in  the 
town.  Such  a  marriage  meant  the  final  renunciation  of  the 
best  society,  and  a  drop  into  the  ranks  of  the  wealthy  trades- 
men, storekeepers,  rich  manufacturers,  and  graziers,  who, 
beyond  a  doubt,  would  carry  him  as  their  candidate  in 
triumph.  Already  du  Bousquier  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
Opposition  benches.  He  did  not  attempt  to  hide  his  solemn 
deliberations;  he  rubbed  his  hand  over  his  head,  made  a  wisp 
of  the  cotton  nightcap,  and  a  damaging  confession  of  the 
nudity  beneath  it.  As  for  Suzanne,  after  the  wont  of  those 
who  succeed  beyond  their  utmost  hopes,  she  sat  dumfounded. 
To  hide  her  amazement  at  his  behavior,  she  drooped  like  a 
hapless  victim  before  her  seducer,  while  within  herself  she 
laughed  like  a  grisette  on  a  frolic. 

"My  dear  child,  I. will  have  nothing  to  do  with  hanky- 
panky  of  this  sort." 

This  brief  formula  was  the  result  of  his  cogitations.  The 
ex-contractor  to  the  Government  prided  himself  upon  belong- 
ing to  that  particular  school  of  cynic  philosophers  which 
declines  to  be  "taken  in"  by  women,  and  includes  the 
whole  sex  in  one  category  as  suspicious  characters.  Strong- 
minded  men  of  this  stamp,  weaklings  are  they  for  the  most 
part,  have  a  catechism  of  their  own  in  the  matter  of  woman- 
kind. Every  woman,  according  to  them,  from  the  Queen  of 
France  to  the  milliner,  is  at  heart  a  rake,  a  hussy,  a  dangerous 
creature,  not  to  say  a  bit  of  a  rascal,  a  liar  in  grain,  a  being 
incapable  of  a  serious  thought.  For  du  Bousquier  and  his 
like,  woman  is  a  maleficent  bayadere*  that  must  be  left  to 
dance,  and  sing,  and  laugh.  They  see  nothing  holy,  nothing 
great  in  woman ;  for  them  she  represents,  not  the  poetry  of 
the  senses,  but  gross  sensuality.  They  are  like  gluttons  who 
mistake  the  kitchen  for  the  dining-room.  On  this  showing,  a 
man  must  be  a  consistent  tyrant,  unless  he  means  to  be  en- 
*  Indian  dancing-girl. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.  31 

slaved.  And  in  this  respect,  again,  du  Bousquier  and  the 
Chevalier  de  Valois  stood  at  opposite  poles. 

As  he  delivered  himself  of  the  above  remark,  he  flung  his 
nightcap  to  the  foot  of  the  bed,  much  as  Gregory  the  Great 
might  have  flung  down  the  candle  while  he  launched  the 
thunders  of  an  excommunication ;  and  Suzanne  learned  that 
the  old  bachelor  wore  a  false  front. 

"  Bear  in  mind,  Monsieur  du  Bousquier,  that  by  coming 
here  I  have  done  my  duty,"  she  remarked  majestically. 
"  Remember  that  I  was  bound  to  offer  you  my  hand  and  to 
ask  for  yours ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  remember  that  I  have 
behaved  with  the  dignity  of  a  self-respecting  woman ;  I  did 
not  lower  myself  so  far  as  to  cry  like  a  fool ;  I  did  not  insist ; 
I  have  not  worried  you  at  all.  Now  you  know  my  position. 
You  know  that  I  cannot  stay  in  Alencon.  If  I  do,  my  mother 
will  beat  me ;  and  Madame  Lardot  is  as  high  and  mighty  over 
principles  as  if  she  washed  and  ironed  with  them.  She  will 
turn  me  away.  And  where  am  I  to  go,  poor  workgirl  that  I 
am  ?  To  the  hospital  ?  Am  I  to  beg  for  bread  ?  Not  I.  I 
would  sooner  fling  myself  into  the  Brillante  or  the  Sarthe. 
Now,  would  it  not  be  simpler  for  me  to  go  to  Paris  ?  Mother 
might  find  some  excuse  for  sending  me,  an  uncle  wants  me 
to  come,  or  an  aunt  is  going  to  die,  or  some  lady  takes  an 
interest  in  me.  It  is  just  a  question  of  money  for  the  travel- 
ing expenses  and — you  know  what " 

This  news  was  immeasurably  more  important  to  du 
Bousquier  than  to  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  for  reasons  which 
no  one  knew  as  yet  but  the  two  rivals,  though  they  will  appear 
in  the  course  of  the  story.  At  this  point,  suffice  it  to  say  that 
Suzanne's  fib  had  thrown  the  sometime  forage-contractor's 
ideas  into  such  confusion  that  he  was  incapable  of  thinking 
seriously.  But  for  that  bewilderment,  but  for  the  secret  joy 
in  his  heart  (for  a  man's  own  vanity  is  a  swindler  that  never 
lacks  a  dupe),  it  must  have  struck  him  that  any  honest  girl, 
with  a  heart  still  unspoiled,  would  have  died  a  hundred  deaths 


32  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

rather  than  enter  upon  such  a  discussion,  or  make  a  demand 
for  money.  He  must  have  seen  the  look  in  the  girl's  eyes, 
seen  the  gambler's  ruthless  meanness  that  would  take  a  life  to 
gain  money  for  a  stake. 

"  Would  you  really  go  to  Paris  ?  "  he  asked. 

The  words  brought  a  twinkle  to  Suzanne's  gray  eyes,  but  it 
was  lost  upon  du  Bousquier's  self-satisfaction. 

"I  would  indeed,  sir." 

But  at  this  du  Bousquier  broke  out  into  a  singular  lament. 
He  had  just  paid  the  balance  of  the  purchase-money  for  his 
house ;  and  there  was  the  painter,  and  the  glazier,  and  the 
bricklayer,  and  the  carpenter.  Suzanne  let  him  talk ;  she  was 
waiting  for  the  figures.  Du  Bousquier  at  last  proposed  three 
hundred  francs,  and  at  this  Suzanne,  with  an  assumption  of 
dignity,  got  up  as  if  to  go. 

"  Eh,  what  !  Where  are  you  going?"  du  Bousquier  cried 
uneasily.  "A  fine  thing  to  be  a  bachelor,"  he  said  to  him- 
self. "  I'll  be  hanged  if  I  remember  doing  more  than  rumple 
the  girl's  collar ;  and  hey  presto  !  on  the  strength  of  a  joke 
she  takes  upon  herself  to  draw  a  bill  upon  you,  point-blank  !  " 

Suzanne  meanwhile  began  to  cry.  "  Monsieur,"  she  said, 
"  I  am  going  to  Madame  Granson,  the  treasurer  of  the  Ma- 
ternity Fund ;  she  pulled  one  poor  girl  in  the  same  strait  out 
of  the  water  (as  you  may  say)  to  my  knowledge." 

"  Madame  Granson  ?  " 

"Yes.  She  is  related  to  Mademoiselle  Cormon,  the  lady 
patroness  of  the  society.  Asking  your  pardon,  some  ladies  in 
the  town  have  started  a  society  that  will  keep  many  a  poor 
creature  from  making  away  with  her  child,  like  that  pretty 
Faustine  of  Argentan  did ;  and  paid  for  it  with  her  life  at 
Mortagne  just  three  years  ago." 

"  Here,  Suzanne,"  returned  du  Bousquier,  holding  out  a 
key,  "  open  the  desk  yourself.  There  is  a  bag  that  has  been 
opened,  with  six  hundred  francs  still  left  in  it.  It  is  all  I 
have." 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          33 

Du  Bousquier's  chopfallen  expression  plainly  showed  how 
little  good-will  went  with  his  compliance. 

"An  old  thief!"  said  Suzanne  to  herself.  "I  will  tell 
tales  about  his  false  hair  !  "  Mentally  she  compared  him  with 
that  delightful  old  Chevalier  de  Valois ;  he  had  given  her 
nothing,  but  he  understood  her,  he  had  advised  her,  he  had 
the  welfare  of  his  grisettes  at  heart. 

"  If  you  are  deceiving  me,  Suzanne,"  exclaimed  the  object 
of  this  unflattering  comparison,  as  he  watched  her  hand  in  the 
drawer,  "  you  shall " 

"  So,  monsieur,  you  would  not  give  me  the  money  if  I 
asked  you  for  it  ?  "  interrupted  she  with  queenly  insolence. 

Once  recalled  to  the  ground  of  gallantry,  recollections  of 
his  prime  came  back  to  the  ex-contractor.  He  grunted  assent. 
Suzanne  took  the  bag  and  departed,  first  submitting  her  fore- 
head to  a  kiss  which  he  gave,  but  in  a  manner  which  seemed 
to  say,  "  This  is  an  expensive  privilege  ;  but  it  is  better  than 
being  brow-beaten  by  counsel  in  a  court  of  law  as  the  seducer 
of  a  young  woman  accused  of  child-murder." 

Suzanne  slipped  the  bag  into  a  pouch-shaped  basket  on  her 
arm,  execrating  du  Bousquier's  stinginess  as  she  did  so,  for 
she  wanted  a  thousand  francs.  If  a  girl  is  once  possessed  by  a 
desire,  and  has  taken  the  first  step  in  trickery  and-deceit,  she 
will  go  to  great  lengths.  As  the  fair  laundress  took  her  way 
along  the  Rue  de  Bercail,  it  suddenly  occurred  to  her  that 
the  Maternity  Fund  under  Mile.  Cormon's  presidency  would 
probably  make  up  the  sum  which  she  regarded  as  sufficient  for 
a  start,  a  very  large  amount  in  the  eyes  of  an  Alencon  grisette. 
And  beside,  she  hated  du  Bousquier,  and  du  Bousquier  seemed 
frightened  when  she  talked  of  confessing  her  so-called  strait  to 
Mme.  Granson.  Wherefore  Suzanne  determined  that  whether 
or  not  she  made  a  centime  out  of  the  Maternity  Fund,  she 
would  entangle  du  Bousquier  in  the  inextricable  undergrowth 
of  the  gossip  of  a  country  town.  There  is  something  of  a 
monkey's  love  of  mischief  in  every  grisette.  Suzanne  com- 
3 


34  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

posed  her  countenance  dolorously  and  betook  herself  accord- 
ingly to  Madame  Granson. 

Mme.  Granson  was  the  widow  of  a  lieutenant-colonel  of 
artillery  who  fell  at  Jena.  Her  whole  yearly  income  consisted 
of  a  pension  of  nine  hundred  francs  for  her  lifetime,  and  her 
one  possession  beside  was  a  son  whose  education  and  main- 
tenance had  absorbed  every  penny  of  her  savings.  She  lived 
in  the  Rue  du  Bercail,  in  one  of  the  cheerless  first-floor  apart- 
ments through  which  you  can  see  from  back  to  front  at  a 
glance  as  you  walk  down  the  main  street  of  any  little  town. 
Three  steps,  rising  pyramid  fashion,  brought  you  to  the  level 
of  the  house-door,  which  opened  upon  a  passageway  and  a 
little  yard  beyond,  with  a  wooden-roofed  staircase  at  the 
farther  end.  Mme.  Granson's  kitchen  and  dining-room  oc- 
cupied the  space  on  one  side  of  the  passage,  on  the  other  side 
a  single  room  did  duty  for  a  variety  of  purposes,  for  the 
widow's  bedroom  among  others.  Her  son,  a  young  man  of 
three-and-twenty,  slept  upstairs  in  an  attic  above  the  second 
floor.  Athanase  Granson  contributed  six  hundred  francs  to 
the  poor  mother's  housekeeping.  He  was  distantly  related  to 
Mile.  Cormon,  whose  influence  had  obtained  him  a  little  post 
in  the  registrar's  office,  where  he  was  employed  in  making  out 
certificates  of  births,  marriages,  and  deaths. 

After  this,  any  one  can  see  the  little  chilly,  yellow-curtained 
parlor,  the  furniture  covered  with  yellow  Utrecht  velvet,  and 
Mme.  Granson  going  round  the  room,  after  her  visitors  had 
left,  to  straighten  the  little  straw  mats  put  down  in  front  of 
each  chair,  so  as  to  save  the  waxed  and  polished  red  brick 
floor  from  contact  with  dirty  boots ;  and,  this  being  accom- 
plished, returning  to  her  place  beside  her  work-table  under 
the  portrait  of  her  lieutenant-colonel.  The  becushioned  arm- 
chair, in  which  she  sat  at  her  sewing,  was  always  drawn  up 
between  the  two  windows,  so  that  she  could  look  up  and  down 
the  Rue  du  Bercail  and  see  every  one  that  passed.  She  was  a 
good  sort  of  woman,  dressed  with  a  homely  simplicity  in  keep- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          35 

ing  with  a  pale  face,  beaten  thin,  as  it  were,  by  many  cares. 
You  felt  the  stern  soberness  of  poverty  in  every  little  detail  in 
that  house,  just  as  you  breathed  a  moral  atmosphere  of  auster- 
ity and  upright  provincial  ways. 

Mother  and  son  at  this  moment  were  sitting  together  in  the 
dining-room  over  their  breakfast — a  cup  of  coffee,  bread 
and  butter,  and  radishes.  And  here,  if  the  reader  is  to  under- 
stand how  gladly  Mme.  Granson  heard  Suzanne,  some  expla- 
nation of  the  secret  hopes  of  the  household  must  be  given. 

Athanase  Granson  was  a  thin,  hollow-cheeked  young  man 
of  medium  height,  with  a  white  face  in  which  a  pair  of  dark 
eyes,  bright  with  thought,  looked  like  two  marks  made  with 
charcoal.  The  somewhat  worn  contours  of  that  face,  the 
curving  line  of  the  lips,  a  sharply  turned-up  chin,  a  regularly 
cut  marble  forehead,  a  melancholy  expression  caused  by  the 
consciousness  of  power  on  the  one  hand  and  of  poverty  on 
the  other — all  these  signs  and  characteristics  told  of  impris- 
oned genius.  So  much  so,  indeed,  that  anywhere  but  at  Alen- 
<;on  his  face  would  have  won  help  for  him  from  distinguished 
men,  or  from  the  women  that  can  discern  genius  incognito. 
For  if  this  was  not  genius,  at  least  it  was  the  outward  form 
that  genius  takes ;  and  if  the  strength  of  a  high  heart  was 
wanting,  it  looked  out  surely  from  those  eyes.  And  yet, 
while  Athanase  could  fine  expression  for  the  loftiest  feeling, 
an  outer  husk  of  shyness  spoiled  everything  in  him,  down  to 
the  very  charm  of  youth,  just  as  the  frost  of  penury  disheart- 
ened every  effort.  Shut  in  by  the  narrow  circle  of  provin- 
cial life,  without  approbation,  encouragement,  or  any  way  of 
escape,  the  thought  within  him  was  dying  out  before  its  dawn. 
And  Athanase,  beside,  had  the  fierce  pride  which  poverty  in- 
tensifies in  certain  natures,  the  kind  of  pride  by  which  a  man 
grows  great  in  the  stress  of  battle  with  men  and  circumstance, 
while  at  the  outset  it  only  handicaps  him. 

Genius  manifests  itself  in  two  ways — either  by  taking  its 
own  as  soon  as  it  finds  it,  like  a  Napoleon  or  a  Moliere,  or  by 


36  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

patiently  revealing  itself  and  waiting  for  recognition.  Young 
Granson  belonged  to  the  latter  class.  He  was  easily  discour- 
aged, ignorant  of  his  value.  His  turn  of  mind  was  contem- 
plative, he  lived  in  thought  rather  than  in  action,  and  possibly, 
to  those  who  cannot  imagine  genius  without  the  Frenchman's 
spark  of  enthusiasm,  he  might  have  seemed  incomplete.  But 
Athanase's  power  lay  in  the  world  of  thought.  He  was  to 
pass  through  successive  phases  of  emotion,  hidden  from 
ordinary  eyes,  to  one  of  those  sudden  resolves  which  bring 
the  chapter  to  a  close  and  set  fools  declaring  that  "the  man 
is  mad."  The  world's  contempt  for  poverty  was  sapping  the 
life  in  Athanase.  The  bow,  continually  strung  tighter  and 
tighter,  was  slackened  by  the  enervating  close  air  of  a  soli- 
tude with  never  a  breath  of  fresh  air  in  it.  He  was  giving 
way  under  the  strain  of  a  cruel  and  fruitless  struggle.  Atha- 
nase had  that  in  him  which  might  have  placed  his  name 
among  the  foremost  names  of  France ;  he  had  known  what  it 
was  to  gaze  with  glowing  eyes  over  Alpine  heights  and  fields 
of  air  whither  unfettered  genius  soars,  and  now  he  was  pining 
to  death  like  some  caged  and  starved  eagle. 

While  he  had  worked  on  unnoticed  in  the  town  library,  he 
buried  his  dreams  of  fame  in  his  own  soul  lest  they  should 
injure  his  prospects;  and  he  carried  beside  another  secret 
hidden  even  more  deeply  in  his  heart,  the  secret  love  which 
hollowed  his  cheeks  and  sallowed  his  forehead. 

Athanase  loved  his  distant  cousin,  that  Mile.  Cormon,  for 
whom  his  unconscious  rivals  du  Bousquier  and  the  Chevalier 
de  Valois  were  laying  in  ambush.  It  was  a  love  born  of  self- 
interest.  Mile.  Cormon  was  supposed  to  be  one  of  the 
richest  people  in  the  town  ;  and  he,  poor  boy,  had  been  drawn 
to  love  her  partly  through  the  desire  for  material  welfare, 
partly  through  a  wish  formed  times  without  number  to  gild 
his  mother's  declining  years,  and  partly  also  through  cravings 
for  the  physical  comfort  necessary  to  men  who  live  an  intel- 
lecttsal  life.  In  his  own  eyes,  his  love  was  dishonored  by  its 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          37 

very  natural  origin  ;  and  he  was  afraid  of  the  ridicule  which 
people  pour  on  the  love  of  a  young  man  of  three-and-twenty 
for  a  woman  of  forty.  And  yet  his  love  was  quite  sincere. 
Much  that  happens  in  the  provinces  would  be  improbable 
upon  the  face  of  it  anywhere  else,  especially  in  matters  of  this 
kind. 

But  in  a  country  town  there  are  no  unforeseen  contingencies ; 
there  is  no  coming  and  going,  no  mystery,  no  such  thing  as 
chance.  Marriage  is  a  necessity,  and  no  family  will  accept  a 
man  of  dissolute  life.  A  connection  between  a  young  fellow 
like  Athanase  and  a  handsome  girl  might  seem  a  natural  thing 
enough  in  a  great  city ;  in  a  country  town  it  would  be  enough 
to  ruin  a  young  man's  chances  of  marriage,  especially  if  he 
were  poor ;  for  when  the  prospective  bridegroom  is  wealthy 
an  awkward  business  of  this  sort  may  be  smoothed  over. 
Between  ths  degradation  of  certain  courses  and  a  sincere 
love,  a  man  that  is  not  heartless  can  make  but  one  choice  if 
he  happens  to  be  poor ;  he  will  prefer  the  disadvantages 
of  virtue  to  the  disadvantages  of  vice.  But  in  a  country 
town  the  number  of  women  with  whom  a  young  man  can  fall 
in  love  is  strictly  limited.  A  pretty  girl  with  a  fortune  is 
beyond  his  reach  in  a  place  where  every  one's  income  is 
known  to  a  farthing.  A  penniless  beauty  is  equally  out  of 
the  question.  To  take  her  for  a  wife  would  be  "to  marry 
hunger  and  thirst,"  as  the  provincial  saying  goes.  Finally, 
celibacy  has  its  dangers  in  youth.  These  reflections  explain 
how  it  has  come  to  pass  that  marriage  is  the  very  basis  of  pro- 
vincial life. 

Men  in  whom  genius  is  hot  and  unquenchable,  who  are 
forced  to  take  their  stand  on  the  independence  of  poverty, 
ought  to  leave  these  cold  regions  ;  in  the  provinces  thought 
meets  with  the  persecution  of  brutal  indifference,  and  no 
woman  cares,  or  dares,  to  play  the  part  of  a  sister  of  charity 
to  the  worker,  the  lover  of  art  or  sciences. 

Who   can    rightly  understand  Athanase's   love    for   Mile. 


38  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Cormon  ?  Not  the  rich,  the  sultans  of  society,  who  can 
find  seraglios  at  their  pleasure;  not  respectability,  keeping 
to  the  track  beaten  hard  by  prejudice ;  nor  yet  those  women 
who  shut  their  eyes  to  the  cravings  of  the  artist  temperament, 
and,  taking  it  for  granted  that  both  sexes  are  governed  by  the 
same  laws,  insist  upon  a  system  of  reciprocity  in  their  partic- 
ular virtues.  The  appeal  must,  perhaps,  be  made  to  young 
men  who  suffer  from  the  repression  of  young  desires  just  as 
they  are  putting  forth  their  full  strength ;  to  the  artist  whose 
genius  is  stifled  within  him  by  poverty  till  it  becomes  a 
disease  ;  to  power  at  first  unsupported,  persecuted,  and  too 
often  unfriended  till  it  emerges  at  length  triumphant  from 
the  twofold  agony  of  soul  and  body. 

These  will  know  the  throbbing  pangs  of  the  cancer  which 
was  gnawing  Athanase.  Such  as  these  have  raised  long,  cruel 
debates  within  themselves,  with  the  so  high  end  in  sight  and 
no  means  of  attaining  it.  They  have  passed  through  the 
experience  of  abortive  effort ;  they  have  left  the  spawn  of 
genius  on  the  barren  sands.  They  know  that  the  strength  of 
desire  is  as  the  scope  of  the  imagination  ;  the  higher  the  leap, 
the  lower  the  fall ;  and  how  many  restraints  are  broken  in 
such  falls  ?  These,  like  Athanase,  catch  glimpses  of  a  glorious 
future  in  the  distance ;  all  that  lies  between  seems  but  a  trans- 
parent film  of  gauze  to  their  piercing  sight ;  but  of  that  film 
which  scarcely  obscures  the  vision,  society  makes  a  wall  of 
brass.  Urged  on  by  their  vocation,  by  the  artist's  instinct 
within  them,  they  too  seek  times  without  number  to  make  a 
stepping-stone  of  sentiments  which  society  turns  in  the  same 
way  to  practical  ends.  What !  when  marriages  in  the  prov- 
inces are  calculated  and  arranged  on  every  side  with  a  view 
to  securing  material  welfare,  shall  it  be  forbidden  to  a  strug- 
gling artist  or  man  of  science  to  keep  two  ends  in  view,  to 
try  to  insure  his  own  subsistence  that  the  thought  within 
him  may  live?' 

Athanase  Granson,  with  such  ideas  as  these  fermenting  in 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          39 

his  head,  thought  at  first  of  marriage  with  Mile.  Cormon  as  a 
definite  solution  of  the  problem  of  existence.  He  would  be 
free  to  work  for  fame,  he  could  make  his  mother  comfortable, 
and  he  felt  sure  of  himself — he  knew  that  he  could  be  faithful 
to  Mile.  Cormon.  But  soon  his  purpose  bred  a  real  passion 
in  him.  It  was  an  unconscious  process.  He  set  himself  to 
study  Mile.  Cormon ;  then  familiarity  exercised  its  spell,  and 
at  length  Athanase  saw  nothing  but  beauties — the  defects  were 
all  forgotten. 

The  senses  count  for  so  much  in  the  love  of  a  young  man 
of  three-and-twenty.  Through  the  heat  of  desire  woman  is 
seen  as  through  a  prism.  From  this  point  of  view  it  was  a 
touch  of  genius  in  Beaumarchais  to  make  the 'page  Cherubino 
in  the  play  strain  Marcellina  to  his  heart.  If  you  recollect, 
moreover,  that  poverty  restricted  Athanase  to  a  life  of  great 
loneliness,  that  there  was  no  other  woman  to  look  at,  that  his 
eyes  were  always  fastened  upon  Mile.  Cormon,  and  that  all 
the  light  in  the  picture  was  concentrated  upon  her,  it  seems 
natural,  does  it  not,  that  he  should  love  her?  The  feeling 
hidden  in  the  depths  of  his  heart  could  but  grow  stronger  day 
by  day.  Desire  and  pain  and  hope  and  meditation,  in  silence 
and  repose,  were  filling  up  Athanase's  soul  to  the  brim  ;  every 
hour  added  its  drop.  As  his  senses  came  to  the  aid  of  imagina- 
tion and  widened  the  inner  horizon,  Mile.  Cormon  became 
more  and  more  awe-inspiring,  and  he  grew  more  and  more 
timid. 

The  mother  had  guessed  it  all.  She  was  a  provincial,  and 
she  frankly  calculated  the  advantages  of  the  match.  Mile. 
Cormon  might  think  herself  very  lucky  to  marry  a  young  man 
of  twenty-three  with  plenty  of  brains,  a  likely  man  to  do  honor 
to  his  name  and  country.  .Still  the  obstacles,  Athanase's 
poverty  and  Mile.  Cormon's  age,  seemed  to  her  to  be  insur- 
mountable ;  there  was  nothing  for  it  that  she  could  see  but 
patience.  She  had  a  policy  of  her  own,  like  du  Bousquier 
and  the  Chevalier  de  Valois ;  she  was  on  the  lookout  for  her 


40  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

opportunity,  waiting,  with  wits  sharpened  by  self-interest  and 
a  mother's  love,  for  the  propitious  moment. 

Of  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  Mme.  Granson  had  no  sus- 
picion whatsoever ;  du  Bousquier  she  still  credited  with  views 
upon  the  lady,  albeit  Mile.  Cormon  had  once  refused  him. 
An  adroit  and  secret  enemy,  Mme.  Granson  did  the  ex-con- 
tractor untold  harm  to  serve  the  son  to  whom  she  had  not 
spoken  a  word.  After  this,  who  does  not  see  the  importance 
of  Suzanne's  lie  once  confided  to  Mme.  Granson  ?  What  a 
weapon  put  into  the  hands  of  the  charitable  treasurer  of  the 
Maternity  Fund  !  How  demurely  she  would  carry  the  tale 
from  house  to  house  when  she  asked  for  subscriptions  for  the 
chaste  Suzanne ! 

At  this  particular  moment  Athanase  was  pensively  sitting 
with  his  elbow  on  the  table,  balancing  a  spoon  on  the  edge  of 
the  empty  bowl  before  him.  He  looked  with  unseeing  eyes 
round  the  poor  room,  over  the  walls  covered  with  an  old- 
fashioned  paper  only  seen  in  wine-saloons,  at  the  window- 
curtains  with  a  chessboard  pattern  of  pink-and-white  squares, 
at  the  red-brick  floor,  the  straw-bottomed  chairs,  the  painted 
wooden  sideboard,  the  glass  door  that  opened  into  the  kitchen. 
As  he  sat  facing  his  mother  and  with  his  back  to  the  fire,  and 
as  the  fireplace  was  almost  opposite  the  door,  the  first  thing 
which  caught  Suzanne's  eyes  was  his  pale  face,  with  the  light 
from  the  street  window  falling  full  upon  it,  a  face  framed  in 
dark  hair,  and  eyes  with  the  gleam  of  despair  in  them,  and  a 
fever  kindled  by  the  morning's  thoughts. 

The  grisette  surely  knows  by  instinct  the  pain  and  sorrow 
of  love  ;  at  the  sight  of  Athanase,  she  felt  that  sudden  electric 
thrill  which  comes  we  know  not  whence.  We  cannot  explain 
it ;  some  strong-minded  persons  deny  that  it  exists,  but  many 
a  woman  and  many  a  man  has  felt  that  shock  of  sympathy. 
It  is  a  flash,  lighting  up  the  darkness  of  the  future,  and  at  the 
same  time  a  presentiment  of  the  pure  joy  of  love  shared  by 
two  souls,  and  a  certainty  that  this  other  too  understands.  It 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN,  41 

is  more  like  the  strong,  sure  touch  of  a  master  hand  upon  the 
clavier  of  the  senses  than  anything  else.  Eyes  are  riveted  by 
an  irresistible  fascination,  hearts  are  troubled,  the  music  of 
joy  rings  in  the  ears  and  thrills  the  soul  ;  a  voice  cries,  "It 
is  he  !  "  And  then — then  very  likely,  reflection  throws  a 
douche  of  cold  water  over  all  this  turbulent  emotion,  and 
there  is  an  end  of  it. 

In  a  moment,  swift  as  a  clap  of  thunder,  a  broadside  of  new 
thoughts  poured  in  upon  Suzanne.  A  lightning  flash  of  love 
burned  the  weeds  which  had  sprung  up  in  dissipation  and 
wantonness.  She  saw  all  that  she  was  losing  by  blighting  her 
name  with  a  lie,  the  desecration,  the  degradation  of  it.  Only 
last  evening  this  idea  had  been  a  joke,  now  it  was  like  a  heavy 
sentence  passed  upon  her.  She  recoiled  before  her  success. 
But,  after  all,  it  was  quite  impossible  that  anything  should 
come  of  this  meeting  ;  and  the  thought  of  Athanase's  poverty, 
and  a  vague  hope  of  making  money  and  coming  back  from 
Paris  with  both  hands  full,  to  say:  "I  loved  you  all  along" 
— or  fate,  if  you  will  have  it  so — dried  up  the  beneficent  dew. 
The  ambitious  damsel  asked  shyly  to  speak  for  a  moment  with 
Mine.  Granson,  who  took  her  into  her  bedroom. 

When  Suzanne  came  out  again  she  looked  once  more  at 
Athanase.  He  was  still  sitting  in  the  same  attitude.  She 
choked  back  her  tears. 

As  for  Mme.  Granson,  she  was  radiant.  She  had  found  a 
terrible  weapon  to  use  against  du  Bousquier  at  last ;  she  could 
deal  him  a  deadly  blow.  So  she  promised  the  poor  victim  of 
seduction  the  support  of  all  the  ladies  who  subscribed  to  the 
Maternity  Fund.  She  foresaw  a  dozen  calls  in  prospect.  In 
the  course  of  the  morning  and  afternoon  she  would  conjure 
down  a  terrific  storm  upon  the  elderly  bachelor's  head.  The 
Chevalier  de  Valois  certainly  foresaw  the  turn  that  matters 
were  likely  to  take,  but  he  had  not  expected  anything  like  the 
amount  of  scandal  that  came  of  it. 

''We  are  going  to  dine  with  Mademoiselle  Cormon,  you 


42  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

know,  dear  boy,"  said  Mme.  Granson  ;  "take  rather  more 
pains  with  your  appearance.  It  is  a  mistake  to  neglect  your 
dress  as  you  do  ;  you  look  so  untidy.  Put  on  your  best  frilled 
shirt  and  your  green  cloth  coat.  I  have  my  reasons,"  she 
added,  with  a  mysterious  air.  "  And  beside,  there  will  be  a 
great  many  people ;  Mademoiselle  Cormon  is  going  to  the 
Prdbaudet  directly.  If  a  young  man  is  thinking  of  marrying, 
he  ought  to  make  himself  agreeable  in  every  possible  way.  If 
girls  would  only  tell  the  truth,  my  boy,  dear  me  !  you  would  be 
surprised  at  the  things  that  take  their  fancy.  It  is  often  quite 
enough  if  a  young  man  rides  by  at  the  head  of  a  company  of 
artillery,  or  comes  to  a  dance  in  a  suit  of  clothes  that  fits  him 
passably  well.  A  certain  way  of  carrying  the  head,  a  melancholy 
attitude,  is  enough  to  set  a  girl  imagining  a  whole  life ;  we  invent 
a  romance  to  suit  the  hero ;  often  he  is  only  a  stupid  young 
man,  but  the  marriage  is  made.  Take  notice  of  Monsieur  de 
Valois,  study  him,  copy  his  manners ;  see  how  he  looks  at 
ease ;  he  has  not  a  constrained  manner,  as  you  have.  And 
talk  a  little;  any  one  might  think  that  you  knew  nothing  at 
a\\, you  that  know  Hebrew  by  heart." 

Athanase  heard  her  submissively,  but  he  looked  surprised. 
He  rose,  took  his  cap,  and  went  back  to  his  work. 

"  Can  mother  have  guessed  my  secret  ?  "  he  thought,  as  he 
went  round  by  the  Rue  de  Val-Noble  where  Mademoiselle 
Cormon  lived,  a  little  pleasure  in  which  he  indulged  of  a 
morning.  His  head  was  swarming  with  romantic  fancies. 

"  How  little  she  thinks  that  going  past  her  house  at  this 
moment  is  a  young  man  who  would  love  her  dearly,  and  be 
true  to  her,  and  never  cause  her  a  single  care,  and  leave  her 
fortune  entirely  in  her  own  hands  !  Oh  me  !  what  a  strange 
fatality  it  is  that  we  two  should  live  as  we  do  in  the  same  town 
and  within  a  few  paces  of  each  other,  and  yet  nothing  can 
bring  us  any  nearer  !  How  if  I  spoke  to  her  to-night?  " 

Meanwhile  Suzanne  went  home  to  her  mother,  thinking  the 
while  of  poor  Athanase,  feeling  that  for  him  she  could  find  it 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN          43 

in  her  heart  to  do  what  many  a  woman  must  have  longed 
to  do  for  the  one  beloved  with  superhuman  strength;  she 
could  have  made  a  stepping-stone  of  her  beautiful  body  if  so 
he  might  come  to  his  kingdom  the  sooner. 

And  now  we  must  enter  the  house  wheYe  all  the  actors  in 
this  Scene  (Suzanne  excepted)  were  to  meet  that  very  evening, 
the  house  belonging  to  the  old  maid,  the  converging  point  of 
so  many  interests.  As  for  Suzanne,  that  young  woman  with 
her  well-grown  beauty,  with  courage  sufficient  to  burn  her 
boats,  like  Alexander,  and  to  begin  the  battle  of  life  with  an 
uncalled-for  sacrifice  of  her  character,  she  now  disappears 
from  the  stage  after  bringing  about  a  violently  exciting  situa- 
tion. Her  wishes,  moreover,  were  more  than  fulfilled.  A 
few  days  afterward  she  left  her  native  place  with  a  stock  of 
money  and  fine  clothes,  including  a  superb  green  rep  gown 
and  a  green  bonnet  lined  with  rose  color,  M.  de  Valois'  gifts; 
which  Suzanne  liked  better  than  anything  else,  better  even 
than  the  Maternity  Society's  money.  If  the  chevalier  had 
gone  to  Paris  while  Suzanne  was  in  her  heyday,  she  would 
assuredly  have  left  all  for  him. 

And  so  this  chaste  Susannah,  of  whom  the  elders  scarcely 
had  more  than  a  glimpse,  settled  herself  comfortably  and 
hopefully  in  Paris,  while  all  Alencon  was  deploring  the  mis- 
fortunes with  which  the  ladies  of  the  Charitable  and  Maternity 
Societies  had  manifested  so  lively  a  sympathy. 

While  Suzanne  might  be  taken  as  a  type  of  the  handsome 
Norman  virgins  who  furnish,  on  the  showing  of  a  learned  physi- 
cian, one-third  of  the  supply  devoured  by  the  monster,  Paris, 
she  entered  herself,  and  remained  in  those  higher  branches  of 
her  profession  in  which  some  regard  is  paid  to  appearances. 
In  an  age  in  which,  as  M.  de  Valois  said,  "woman  has  ceased 
to  be  woman,"  she  was  known  merely  as  Mme.  du  Val-Noble  ; 
in  other  times  she  would  have  rivaled  an  Imperia,  a  Rhodope, 
a  Ninon.  One  of  the  most  distinguished  writers  of  the  Res- 


44  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

toration  took  her  under  his  protection,  and  very  likely  will 
marry  her  some  day ;  he  is  a  journalist,  and  above  public 
opinion,  seeing  that  he  creates  a  new  one  every  six  years. 

In  almost  every  prefecture  of  the  second  magnitude  there  is 
some  salon  frequented  not  exactly  by  the  cream  of  the  local 
society,  but  by  personages  both  considerable  and  well  con- 
sidered. The  host  and  hostess  probably  will  be  among  the 
foremost  people  in  the  town.  To  them  all  houses  are  open ; 
no  entertainment,  no  public  dinner  is  given,  but  they  are 
asked  to  it ;  but  in  their  salon  you  will  not  meet  the  gens  a 
ch&teau — lords  of  the  manor,  peers  of  France  living  on  their 
broad  acres,  and  persons  of  the  highest  quality  in  the  depart- 
ment, though  these  are  all  on  visiting  terms  with  the  family, 
and  exchange  invitations  to  dinners  and  evening  parties. 
The  mixed  society  to  be  found  there  usually  consists  of  the 
lesser  noblesse  resident  in  the  town,  with  the  clergy  and 
judicial  authorities.  It  is  an  influential  assemblage.  All  the 
wit  and  sense  of  the  district  is  concentrated  in  its  solid,  un- 
pretentious ranks.  Everybody  in  the  set  knows  the  exact 
amount  of  his  neighbor's  income,  and  professes  the  utmost  in- 
difference to  dress  and  luxury,  trifles  held  to  be  mere  childish 
vanity  compared  with  the  acquisition  of  a  mouchoir  a  bceufs — 
a  pocket-handkerchief  of  some  ten  or  a  dozen  acres,  purchased 
after  as  many  years  of  pondering  and  intriguing  and  a  prodig- 
ious deal  of  diplomacy. 

Unshaken  in  its  prejudices  whether  good  or  ill,  the  coterie 
goes  on  its  way  without  a  look  before  or  behind.  Nothing 
from  Paris  is  allowed  to  pass  without  a  prolonged  scrutiny ;  in- 
novations are  ridiculous,  and  bonds  and  cashmere  shawls  alike 
objectionable.  Provincials  read  nothing  and  wish  to  learn 
nothing ;  for  them,  science,  literature,  and  mechanical  inven- 
tion are  as  the  thing  that  is  not.  If  a  prefect  does  not  suit 
their  notions,  they  do  their  best  to  have  him  removed  ;  if  this 
cannot  be  done,  they  isolate  him.  So  will  you  see  the  in- 
mates of  a  beehive  wall  up  an  intruding  snail  with  wax. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          45 

Finally,  of  the  gossip  of  the  salon,  history  is  made.  Young 
married  women  put  in  an  appearance  there  occasionally 
(though  the  card-table  is  the  one  resource)  that  their  conduct 
may  be  stamped  with  the  approval  of  the  coterie  and  their 
social  status  confirmed.  ? 

Native  susceptibilities  are  sometimes  wounded  by  the  supre- 
macy of  a  single  house,  but  the  rest  comfort  themselves  with 
the  thought  that  they  save  the  expense  entailed  by  the  posi- 
tion. Sometimes  it  happens  that  no  one  can  afford  to  keep 
open  house,  and  then  the  big-wigs  of  the  place  look  about 
them  for  some  harmless  person  whose  character,  position,  and 
social  standing  offer  guarantees  for  the  neutrality  of  the 
ground,  and  alarm  nobody's  vanity  or  self-interest.  This  had 
been  the  case  at  Alencon.  For  a  long  time  past  the  best 
society  of  the  town  has  been  wont  to  assemble  in  the  house  of 
the  old  maid  before  mentioned,  who  little  suspected  Mine. 
Granson's  designs  on  her  fortune,  or  the  secret  hopes  of  the 
two  elderly  bachelors  who  have  just  been  unmasked. 

Mile.  Cormon  was  Mme.  Granson's  fourth  cousin.  She 
lived  with  her  mother's  brother,  a  sometime  vicar-general  of 
the  bishopric  of  Seez ;  she  had  been  her  uncle's  ward,  and 
would  one  day  inherit  his  fortune.  Rose-Marie- Victoire  Cor- 
mon was  the  last  representative  of  a  house  which,  plebeian 
though  it  was,  had  associated  and  often  allied  itself  with  the 
noblesse,  and  ranked  among  the  oldest  families  in  the  pro- 
vince. In  former  times  the  Cormons  had  been  intendants  of 
the  duchy  of  Alencon,  and  had  given  a  goodly  number  of 
magistrates  to  the  bench,  and  several  bishops  to  the  church. 
M.  de  Sponde,  Mile.  Cormon's  maternal  grandfather,  was 
elected  by  the  noblesse  to  the  States-General ;  and  M.  Cor- 
mon, her  father,  had  been  asked  to  represent  the  Third 
Estate,  but  neither  of  them  accepted  the  responsibility.  For 
the  last  century,  the  daughters  of  the  house  had  married 
into  the  noble  families  of  the  province,  in  such  sort  that  the 
Cormons  were  grafted  into  pretty  nearly  every  genealogical 


46  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

tree  in  the  duchy.     No  burgher  family  came  so  near  being 
noble. 

The  house  in  which  the  present  Mile.  Cormon  lived  had 
never  passed  out  of  the  family  since  it  was  built  by  Pierre 
Cormon  in  the  reign  of  Henri  IV. ;  and  of  all  the  old  maid's 
worldly  possessions,  this  one  appealed  most  to  the  greed  of 
her  elderly  suitors ;  though,  so  far  from  bringing  in  money, 
the  ancestral  home  of  the  Cormons  was  a  positive  expense  to 
its  owner.  But  it  is  such  an  unusual  thing,  in  the  very  centre 
of  a  country  town,  to  find  a  house  handsome  without,  con- 
venient within,  and  free  from  mean  surroundings,  that  all 
Alencon  shared  the  feeling  of  envy. 

The  old  mansion  stood  exactly  half-way  down  the  Rue  du 
Val-Noble,  The  Val-Noblc,  as  it  was  called,  probably  because 
the  Brillante,  the  little  stream  which  flows  through  the  town, 
has  hollowed  out  a  little  valley  for  itself  in  a  dip  of  the  land 
thereabout.  The  most  noticeable  feature  of  the  house  was  its 
massive  architecture,  of  the  style  introduced  from  Italy  by 
Marie  de'  Medici ;  all  the  corner-stones  and  facings  were  cut 
with  diamoned-shaped  bosses,  in  spite  of  the  difficulty  of 
working  in  the  granite  of  which  it  is  built.  It  was  a  two- 
storied  house  with  a  very  high-pitched  roof,  and  a  row  of 
dormer  windows,  each  with  its  carved  tympanum  standing 
picturesquely  enough  above  the  lead-lined  parapet  with  its 
ornamental  balustrade.  A  grotesque  gargoyle,  the  head  of 
some  fantastic  bodyless  beast,  discharged  the  rain-water 
through  its  jaws  into  the  street  below,  where  great  stone  slabs, 
pierced  with  five  holes,  were  placed  to  receive  it.  Each  gable 
terminated  in  a  leaden  finial,  a  sign  that  this  was  a  burgher's 
house,  for  none  but  nobles  had  a  right  to  put  up  a  weather- 
cock in  olden  times.  To  the  right  and  left  of  the  yard  stood 
the  stables  and  the  coach-house ;  the  kitchen,  laundry,  and 
wood-shed.  One  of  the  leaves  of  the  great  gate  used  to  stand 
open  ;  so  that  passers-by,  looking  in  through  the  little  low 
wicket  with  the  bell  attached,  could  see  the  parterre  in  the 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          47 

middle  of  a  spacious  paved  court,  and  the  low-clipped  privet 
hedges  which  marked  out  miniature  borders  full  of  monthly 
roses,  clove  gilliflowers,  scabious,  lilies,  and  Spanish  broom  ; 
as  well  as  the  laurel-bushes  and  pomegranates  and  myrtles 
which  grew  in  tubs  put  out  of  doors  for  the  summer. 

The  scrupulous  neatness  and  tidiness  of  the  place  must 
have  struck  any  stranger,  and  furnished  him  with  a  clue  to 
the  old  maid's  character.  The  mistress'  eyes  must  have  been 
unemployed,  careful,  and  prying ;  less,  perhaps,  from  any 
natural  bent,  than  for  want  of  any  occupation.  Who  but  an 
elderly  spinster,  at  a  loss  how  to  fill  an  always  empty  day, 
would  have  insisted  that  no  blade  of  grass  should  show  itself  in 
the  paved  courtyard,  that  the  wall-copings  should  be  scoured, 
that  the  broom  should  always  be  busy,  that  the  coach  should 
never  be  left  with  the  leather  curtains  undrawn  ?  Who  else, 
from  sheer  lack  of  other  employment,  could  have  introduced 
something  like  Dutch  cleanliness  into  a  little  province  between 
Perche,  Normandy,  and  Brittany,  where  the  natives  make 
boast  of  their  crass  indifference  to  comfort?  The  chevalier 
never  climbed  the  steps  without  reflecting  inwardly  that  the 
house  was  fit  for  a  peer  of  France  ;  and  du  Bousquier  similarly 
considered  that  the  Mayor  of  Alencon  ought  to  live  there. 

A  glass  door  at  the  top  of  the  flight  of  steps  gave  admittance 
to  an  antechamber  lighted  by  a  second  glass  door  opposite, 
above  a  corresponding  flight  of  steps  leading  into  the  garden. 
This  part  of  the  house,  a  kind  of  gallery  floored  with  square 
red  tiles,  and  wainscoted  to  elbow-height,  was  a  hospital  for 
invalid  family  portraits ;  one  here  and  there  had  lost  an  eye 
or  sustained  injury  to  a  shoulder,  another  stood  with  a  hole  in 
the  place  where  his  hat  should  have  been,  yet  another  had 
lost  a  leg  by  amputation.  Here  cloaks,  clogs,  overshoes,  and 
umbrellas  were  left ;  everybody  deposited  his  belongings  in 
the  antechamber  on  his  arrival,  and  took  them  again  on  his 
departure.  A  long  bench  was  set  against  either  wall  for  the 
servants  who  came  of  an  evening  with  their  lanterns  to  fetch 


48  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

home  their  masters  and  mistresses,  and  a  big  stove  was  set  in 
the  middle  to  mitigate  the  icy  blasts  which  swept  across  from 
door  to  door. 

This  gallery,  then,  divided  the  first  floor  into  two  equal 
parts.  The  staircase  rose  to  the  left  on  the  side  nearest  the 
courtyard,  the  rest  of  the  space  being  taken  up  by  the  great 
dining-room,  with  its  windows  looking  out  upon  the  garden, 
and  a  pantry  beyond,  which  communicated  with  the  kitchen. 
To  the  right  lay  the  salon,  lighted  by  four  windows,  and  a 
couple  of  smaller  rooms  beyond  it,  a  boudoir  which  gave  upon 
the  garden,  and  a  room  which  did  duty  as  a  study  and  looked 
into  the  courtyard.  There  was  a  complete  suite  of  rooms  on 
the  second  floor,  beside  the  Abbd  de  Sponde's  apartments  ; 
while  the  attic  story,  in  all  probability  roomy  enough,  had 
long  since  been  given  over  to  the  tenancy  of  rats  and  mice. 
Mile.  Cormon  used  to  report  their  nocturnal  exploits  to  the 
Chevalier  de  Valois,  and  marvel  at  the  futility  of  all  measures 
taken  against  them. 

The  garden,  about  half  an  acre  in  extent,  was  bounded  by 
the  Brillante,  so  called  from  the  mica  spangles  which  glitter 
in  its  bed  ;  not,  however,  in  the  Val-Noble,  for  the  manufac- 
turers and  dyers  of  Alencon  pour  all  their  refuse  into  the  shal- 
low stream  before  it  reaches  this  point ;  and  the  opposite 
bank,  as  always  happens  wherever  a  stream  passes  through  a 
town,  was  lined  with  houses  where  various  thirsty  industries 
were  carried  on.  Luckily,  Mile.  Cormon's  neighbors  were  all 
of  them  quiet  tradesmen — a  baker,  a  fuller,  and  one  or  two 
cabinet-makers.  Her  garden,  full  of  old-fashioned  flowers, 
naturally  ended  in  a  terrace,  by  way  of  a  quay,  with  a  short 
flight  of  steps  down  to  the  water's  edge.  Try  to  picture  the 
wallflowers  growing  in  blue-and-white  glazed  jars  along  the 
balustrade  by  the  river,  behold  a  shady  walk  to  right  and  left 
beneath  the  square-clipped  lime-trees,  and  you  will  have  some 
idea  of  a  scene  full  of  unpretending  cheerfulness  and  sober 
tranquillity;  you  can  see  the  views  of  homely  humble  life 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          49 

along  the  opposite  bank,  the  quaint  houses,  the  trickling 
stream  of  the  Brillante,  the  garden  itself,  the  linden  walks 
under  the  garden  walls,  and  the  venerable  home  built  by  the 
Cormons.  How  peaceful,  how  quiet  it  was  !  If  theue  was  no 
ostentation,  there  was  nothing  transitory,  everything  seemed 
to  last  forever  there. 

The  first-floor  rooms,  therefore,  were  given  over  to  social 
uses.  You  breathed  the  atmosphere  of  the  Province,  ancient, 
unalterable  Province.  The  great  square-shaped  salon,  with 
its  four  doors  and  four  windows,  was  modestly  wainscoted 
with  carved  panels,  and  painted  gray.  On  the  wall,  above 
the  single  oblong  mirror  on  the  mantel,  the  Hours,  in  mono- 
chrome, were  ushering  in  the  Day.  For  this  particular  style 
of  decoration,  which  used  to  infest  the  spaces  above  doors, 
the  artist's  invention  devised  the  eternal  Seasons  which  meet 
your  eyes  almost  anywhere  in  central  France,  till  you  loathe 
the  detestable  Cupids  engaged,  in  reaping,  skating,  sowing 
seeds,  or  flinging  flowers  about.  Every  window  was  over- 
arched with  a  sort  of  baldachin  with  green  damask  curtains 
drawn  back  with  cords  and  huge  tassels.  The  tapestry-covered 
furniture,  with  a  darn  here  and  there  at  the  edges  of  the 
chairs,  belonged  distinctly  to  that  period  of  the  eighteenth 
century  when  curves  and  contortions  were  in  the  very  height 
of  fashion ;  the  frames  were  painted  and  varnished,  the  sub- 
jects in  the  medallions  on  the  backs  were  taken  from  La  Fon- 
taine. Four  card-tables,  a  table  for  piquet,  and  another  for 
backgammon  filled  up  the  immense  space.  A  rock  crystal 
chandelier,  shrouded  in  green  gauze,  hung  suspended  from  the 
prominent  cross-beam  which  divided  the  ceiling,  the  only 
plastered  ceiling  in  the  house.  Two  branched  candle-sconces 
were  fixed  into  the  wall  above  the  mantel,  where  a  couple  of 
blue  Sevres  vases  stood  on  either  side  of  a  copper-gilt  clock 
which  represented  a  scene  taken  from  "Le  D6serteur  " — a  proof 
of  the  prodigious  popularity  of  Sedaine's  work.  It  was  a  group 
of  no  less  than  eleven  figures,  four  inches  high ;  the  deserter 
4 


50  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

emerging  from  jail  escorted  by  a  guard  of  soldiers,  while  a 
young  person,  swoon-ing  in  the  foreground,  held  out  his 
reprieve.  The  hearth  and  fire-irons  were  of  the  same  date  and 
style.  The  more  recent  family  portraits — one  or  two  Rigauds 
and  three  pastels  by  Latour — adorned  the  handsome  wainscot 
panels. 

The  study,  paneled  entirely  in  old  lacquer  work,  red  and 
black  and  gold,  would  have  fetched  fabulous  sums  a  few  years 
later ;  Mile.  Cormon  was  as  far  as  possible  from  suspecting  its 
value ;  but  if  she  had  been  offered  a  thousand  crowns  for  every 
panel,  she  would  not  have  parted  with  a  single  one.  It  was  a 
part  of  her  system  to  alter  nothing,  and  everywhere  in  the 
provinces  the  belief  in  ancestral  hoards  is  very  strong.  The 
boudoir,  never  used,  was  hung  with  the  old-fashioned  chintz 
so  much  run  after  nowadays  by  amateurs  of  the  "  Pompadour 
style,"  as  it  is  called. 

The  dining-room  was  paved  with  black-and-white  stone ;  it 
had  not  been  ceiled,  but  the  joists  and  beams  were  painted. 
Ranged  round  the  walls,  beneath  a  flowered  trellis,  painted  in 
fresco,  stood  the  portentous,  marble-topped  sideboards,  indis- 
pensable in  the  warfare  waged  in  the  provinces  against  the 
powers  of  digestion.  The  chairs  were  cane-seated  and  var- 
nished, the  doors  of  unpolished  walnut-wood.  Everything 
combined  admirably  to  complete  the  general  effect,  the  old- 
world  air  of  the  house  within  and  without.  The  provincial 
spirit  had  preserved  all  as  it  had  always  been ;  nothing  was 
new  or  old,  young  or  decrepit.  You  felt  a  sense  of  chilly 
precision  everywhere. 

Any  tourist  in  Brittany,  Normandy,  Maine,  or  Anjou  must 
have  seen  some  house  more  or  less  like  this  in  one  or  other 
provincial  town ;  for  the  Hotel  de  Cormon  was  in  its  way  a 
very  pattern  and  model  of  burgher  houses  over  a  large  part  of 
France,  and  the  better  deserves  a  place  in  this  chronicle  be- 
cause it  is  at  once  a  commentary  on  the  manners  of  the  place 
and  the  expression  of  its  ideas.  Who  does  not  feel,  even 


THE  JEALOUSIES  OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          51 

now,  how  much  the  life  within  the  old  walls  was  one  of  peace- 
ful routine  ? 

For  such  library  as  the  house  possessed  you  must  have  de- 
scended rather  below  the  level  of  the  Brillante.  There  stood 
a  solidly  clasped  oak-bound  collection,  none  the  worse,  nay, 
rather  the  better,  for  a  thick  coating  of  dust ;  a  collection 
kept  as  carefully  as  a  cider-growing  district  is.  wont  to  keep 
the  products  of  the  presses  of  Burgundy,  Touraine,  Gascony, 
and  the  South.  Here  were  works  full  of  native  force,  and 
exquisite  qualities,  with  an  added  perfume  of  antiquity.  No 
one  will  import  poor  wines  when  the  cost  of  carriage  is  so 
heavy. 

Mile.  Cormon's  whole  circle  consisted  of  about  a  hundred 
and  fifty  persons.  Of  these,  some  went  into  the  country, 
some  were  ill,  others  from  home  on  business  in  the  depart- 
ment, but  there  was  a  faithful  band  which  always  came,  unless 
Mile.  Cormon  gave  an  evening  party  in  form ;  so  also  did 
those  persons  who  were  bound  either  by  their  duties  or  old 
habit  to  live  in  Alencon  itself.  All  these  people  were  of  ripe 
age.  A  few  among  them  had  traveled,  but  scarcely  any  of 
them  had  gone  beyond  the  province,  and  one  or  two  had 
been  implicated  in  Chouannerie.  People  could  begin  to 
speak  freely  of  the  war,  now  that  rewards  had  come  to  the 
heroic  defenders  of  the  good  cause.  M.  de  Valois  had  been 
concerned  in  the  last  rising,  when  the  Marquis  de  Montauran 
lost  his  life,  betrayed  by  his  mistress ;  and  Marche-a-Terre, 
now  peacefully  driving  a  grazier's  trade  by  the  banks  of  the 
Mayenne,  had  made  a  famous  name  for  himself.  M.  de 
Valois,  during  the  past  six  months,  had  supplied  the  key  to 
several  shrewd  tricks  played  off  upon  Hulot  the  old  Repub- 
lican, commander  of  a  demi-brigade  stationed  at  Alencon 
from  1798  till  1800.  There  was  talk  of  Hulot  yet  in  the 
countryside.* 

The  women  made  little  pretense  of  dress,  except  on  Wednes- 
*  See  "The  Chouans." 


52  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

days,  when  Mile.  Cormon  gave  a  dinner  party,  and  last  week's 
guests  came  to  pay  their  "  visit  of  digestion."  On  Wednes- 
day evening  the  rooms  were  filled.  Guests  and  visitors  came 
in  gala  dress;  here  and  there  a  woman  brought  her  knitting 
or  her  tapestry  work,  and  some  young  ladies  unblushingly 
drew  patterns  for  point  d'Alencon,  by  which  they  supported 
themselves.  Men  brought  their  wives,  because  there  were  so 
few  young  fellows  there ;  no  whisper  could  pass  unnoticed, 
and  therefore  there  was  no  danger  of  love-making  for  maid  <5r 
matron.  Every  evening  at  six  o'clock  the  lobby  was  filled 
with  articles  of  dress,  with  sticks,  cloaks,  and  lanterns.  Every 
one  was  so  well  acquainted,  the  customs  of  the  house  were  so 
primitive,  that  if  by  any  chance  the  Abbe  de  Sponde  was  in 
the  lime-tree  walk,  and  Mile.  Cormon  in  her  room,  neither 
Josette  the  maid  nor  Jacquelin  the  man  thought  it  necessary 
to  inform  them  of  the  arrival  of  visitors.  The  first  comer 
waited  till  some  one  else  arrived ;  and  when  they  mustered 
players  sufficient  for  whist  or  boston,  the  game  was  begun 
without  waiting  for  the  Abbe  de  Sponde  or  mademoiselle. 
When  it  grew  dark,  Josette  or  Jacquelin  brought  lights  as 
soon  as  the  bell  rang,  and  the  old  abbe  out  in  the  garden, 
seeing  the  drawing-room  windows  illuminated,  hastened  slowly 
toward  the  house.  Every  evening  the  piquet,  boston,  and 
whist  tables  were  full,  giving  an  average  of  twenty-five  or 
thirty  persons,  including  those  who  came  to  chat ;  but  often 
there  were  as  many  as  thirty  or  forty,  and  then  Jacquelin  took 
candles  into  the  study  and  the  boudoir.  Between  eight  and 
nine  at  night  the  servants  began  to  fill  the  antechamber;  and 
nothing  short  of  a  revolution  would  have  found  any  one  in  the 
salon  at  ten  o'clock.  At  that  hour  the  frequenters  of  the 
house  were  walking  home  through  the  streets,  discussing  the 
points  made,  or  keeping  up  a  conversation  begun  in  the  salon. 
Sometimes  the  talk  turned  on  a  pocket-handkerchief  of  land  on 
which  somebody  had  an  eye,  sometimes  it  was  the  division  of 
an  inheritance  and  disputes  among  the  legatees,  or  the  pre- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWX.  53 

tensions  of  the  aristocratic  set.     You  see  exactly  the  same 
thing  at  Paris  when  the  theatres  disgorge. 

Some  people  who  talk  a  great  deal  about  poetry  and  under- 
stand nothing  about  it  are  wont  to  rail  at  provincial  towns 
and  provincial  ways  ;  but  lean  your  forehead  on  your  left  hand, 
as  you  sit  with  your  feet  on  the  fire-dogs,  and  rest  your  elbow 
on  your  knee,  and  then — if  you  have  fully  realized  for  your- 
self the  level,  pleasant  landscape,  the  house,  the  interior,  the 
folk  within  it  and  their  interests,  interests  that  seem  all  the 
larger  because  the  mental  horizon  is  so  limited  (as  a  grain  of 
gold  is  beaten  thin  between  two  sheets  of  parchment) — then 
ask  yourself  what  human  life  is.  Try  to  decide  between  the 
engraver  of  the  hieroglyphic  birds  on  an  Egyptian  obelisk, 
and  one  of  these  folk  in  Alencon  playing  boston  through  a 
score  of  years  with  du  Bousquier,  M.  de  Valois,  Mile.  Cormon, 
the  president  of  the  Tribunal,  the  public  prosecutor,  the  Abbe 
de  Sponde,  Mme.  Granson,  and  all  the  rest.  If  the  daily 
round,  the  daily  pacing  of  the  same  track  in  the  footsteps  of 
many  yesterdays,  is  not  exactly  happiness,  it  is  so  much  like 
it  that  others,  driven  by  dint  of  storm- tossed  days  to  reflect 
on  the  blessings  of  calm,  will  say  that  it  is  happiness  indeed. 

To  give  the  exact  measure  of  the  importance  of  Mile.  Cor- 
mon's  salon,  it  will  suffice  to  add  that  du  Bousquier,  a  born 
statistician,  computed  that  its  frequenters  mustered  among 
them  a  hundred  and  thirty-one  votes  in  the  electoral  college, 
and  eighteen  hundred  thousand  livres  of  income  derived  from 
lands  in  the  province.  The  town  of  Alencon  was  not,  it  is 
true,  completely  represented  there.  The  aristocratic  section, 
for  instance,  had  a  salon  of  their  own,  and  the  receiver-gen- 
eral's house  was  a  sort  of  official  inn  kept,  as  in  duty  bound,  by 
the  Government,  where  everybody  who  was  anybody  danced, 
flirted,  fluttered,  fell  in  love,  and  supped.  One  or  two  un- 
classified persons  kept  up  the  communications  between  Mile. 
Cormon 's  salon  and  the  other  two,  but  the  Cormon  salon 
criticised  all  that  passed  in  the  opposed  camps  very  severely. 


54          THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Sumptuous  dinners  gave  rise  to  unfavorable  comment ;  ices  at 
a  dance  caused  searchings  of  heart ;  the  women's  behavior 
and  dress  and  any  innovations  were  much  discussed. 

Mile.  Cormon  being,  as  it  were,  the  style  of  the  firm  and 
figure-head  of  an  imposing  coterie,  was  inevitably  the  object 
of  any  ambition  as  profound  as  that  of  the  du  Bousquier  or 
the  Chevalier  de  Valois.  To  both  gentlemen  she  meant  a 
seat  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  with  a  peerage  for  the  chev- 
alier, a  receiver-general's  post  for  du  Bousquier.  A  salon  ad- 
mittedly of  the  first  rank  is  every  whit  as  hard  to  build  up  in 
a  country  town  as  in  Paris.  And  here  was  the  salon  ready 
made.  To  marry  Mile.  Cormon  was  to  be  lord  of  Alencon. 
Finally,  Athanase,  the  only  one  of  the  three  suitors  that  had 
ceased  to  calculate,  cared  as  much  for  the  woman  as  for  her 
money. 

Is  there  not  a  whole  strange  drama  (to  use  the  modern  cant 
phrase)  in  the  relative  positions  of  these  four  human  beings  ? 
There  is  something  grotesque,  is  there  not,  in  the  idea  of 
three  rival  suitors  eagerly  pressing  about  an  old  maid  who 
never  so  much  as  suspected  their  intentions,  in  spite  of  her 
intense  and  very  natural  desire  to  be  married  ?  Yet,  although 
things  being  so,  it  may  seem  an  extraordinary  thing  that  she 
should  not  have  married  before,  it  is  not  difficult  to  explain 
how  and  why,  in  spite  of  her  fortune  and  her  three  suitors, 
Mile.  Cormon  was  still  unwed. 

From  the  first,  following  the  family  tradition,  Mile.  Cormon 
had  always  wished  to  marry  a  noble,  but  between  the  years 
1789  and  1799  circumstances  were  very  much  against  her. 
While  she  would  have  wished  to  be  the  wife  of  a  person  of  con- 
dition, she  was  horribly  afraid  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal ; 
and  these  two  motives  weighing  about  equally,  she  remained 
stationary,  according  to  a  law  which  holds  equally  good  in 
aesthetics  or  statics.  At  the  same  time,  the  condition  of  sus- 
pended judgment  is  not  unpleasant  for  a  girl,  so  long  as  she 
feels  young  and  thinks  that  she  can  choose  where  she  pleases. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUiVTRY  TOWN.          55 

But,  as  all  France  knows,  the  system  of  government  immedi- 
ately preceding  the  wars  of  Napoleon  produced  a  vast  number1 
of  widows  ;  and  the  number  of  heiresses  was  altogether  out  of 
proportion  to  the  number  of  eligible  men.  When  order  was 
restored  in  the  country,  in  the  time  of  the  Consulate,  external 
difficulties  made  marriage  as  much  of  a  problem  as  ever  for 
Rose-Marie-Victoire.  On  the  one  hand,  she  declined  to  marry 
an  elderly  man ;  and,  on  the  other,  dread  of  ridicule  and  cir- 
cumstances put  quite  young  men  out  of  the  question.  In 
those  days  heads  of  families  married  their  sons  as  mere  boys, 
because  in  this  way  they  escaped  the  conscription.  With  the 
obstinacy  of  a  landed  proprietor,  mademoiselle  would  not 
hear  of  marrying  a  military  man ;  she  had  no  wish  to  take  a 
husband  only  to  give  him  back  to  the  Emperor,  she  wished  to 
keep  him  for  herself.  And  so,  between  1804  and  1815,  it  was 
impossible  to  compete  with  a  younger  generation  of  girls,  too 
numerous  already  in  times  when  cannon-shot  had  thinned  the 
ranks  of  marriageable  men. 

Again,  apart  from  Mile.  Cormon's  predilection  for  birth, ' 
she  had  a  very  pardonable  craze  for  being  loved  for  her  own 
sake.  You  would  scarcely  believe  the  lengths  to  which  she 
carried  this  fancy.  She  set  her  wits  to  work  to  lay  snares  for 
her  admirers,  to  try  their  sentiments  ;  and  that  with  such  suc- 
cess, that  the  unfortunates  one  and  all  fell  into  them,  and 
succumbed  in  the  whimsical  ordeals  through  which  they  passed 
at  unawares.  Mile.  Cormon  did  not  study  her  suitors,  she 
played  the  spy  upon  them.  A  careless  word  or  a  joke,  and 
the  lady  did  not  understand  jokes  very  well,  was  excuse  enough 
to  dismiss  an  aspirant  as  found  wanting.  This  had  neither 
spirit  nor  delicacy;  that  was  untruthful  and  not  a  Christian  ; 
one  wanted  to  cut  down  tall  timber  and  coin  money  under 
the  marriage  canopy ;  another  was  not  the  man  to  make  her 
happy  ;  or,  again,  she  had  her  suspicions  of  gout  in  the  family, 
or  took  fright  at  her  wooer's  antecedents.  Like  mother  church, 
she  would  fain  see  a  priest  without  blemish  at  her  altar.  And 


56  THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

then  Rose-Marie-Victoire  made  the  worst  of  herself,  and  was 
as  anxious  to  be  loved,  with  all  her  factitious  plainness  and 
imaginary  faults,  as  other  women  are  to  be  married  for  virtues 
which  they  have  not  and  for  borrowed  beauty.  Mile.  Cor- 
mon's  ambition  had  its  source  in  the  finest  instincts  of  woman- 
hood. She  would  reward  her  lover  by  discovering  to  him  a 
thousand  virtues  after  marriage,  as  other  women  reveal  the 
many  little  faults  kept  hitherto  strenuously  out  of  sight.  But 
no  one  understood.  The  noble  girl  came  in  contact  with 
none  but  commonplace  natures,  with  whom  practical  interests 
came  first ;  the  finer  calculations  of  feeling  were  beyond  their 
comprehension. 

She  grew  more  and  more  suspicious  as  the  critical  period  so 
ingenuously  called  "second  youth"  drew  nearer.  Her  fancy 
for  making  the  worst  of  herself  with  increasing  success  fright- 
ened away  the  latest  recruits ;  they  hesitated  to  unite  their  lot 
with  hers.  The  strategy  of  her  game  of  blind-man's  bluff  (the 
virtues  to  be  revealed  when  the  finder's  eyes  were  opened)  was 
a  complex  study  for  which  few  men  have  inclination  ;  they 
prefer  perfection  ready-made.  An  ever-present  dread  of  being 
married  for  her  money  made  her  unreasonably  distrustful  and 
uneasy.  She  fell  foul  of  the  rich,  and  the  rich  could  look 
higher ;  she  was  afraid  of  poor  men,  she  would  not  believe 
them  capable  of  that  disinterestedness  on  which  she  set  such 
store ;  till  at  length  her  rejections  and  other  circumstances  let 
in  an  unexpected  light  upon  the  minds  of  suitors  thus  pre- 
sented for  her  selection  like  dried  peas  on  a  seedman's  sieve. 
Every  time  a  marriage  project  came  to  nothing,  the  unfortu- 
nate girl,  being  gradually  led  to  despise  mankind,  saw  the 
other  sex  at  last  in  a  false  light.  Inevitably,  in  her  inmost 
soul,  she  grew  misanthropic,  a  tinge  of  bitterness  was  infused 
into  her  conversation,  a  certain  harshness  into  her  expression. 
And  her  manners  became  more  and  more  rigid  under  the 
stress  of  enforced  celibacy ;  in  her  despair  she  sought  to  per- 
fect herself.  It  was  a  characteristic  and  a  noble  vengeance. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          57 

She  would  polish  and  cut  for  God  the  rough  diamond  rejected 
by  men. 

Before  long  public  opinion  was  against  Mile.  Cormon. 
People  accept  the  verdict  which  a  woman  passes  upon  herself 
if,  being  free  to  marry,  she  fails  to  fulfill  expectations,  or  is 
known  to  have  refused  eligible  suitors.  Every  one  decides 
that  she  has  her  own  reasons  for  declining  marriage,  and  those 
reasons  are  always  misinterpreted.  There  was  some  hidden 
physical  defect  or  deformity,  they  said  ;  but  she,  poor  girl, 
was  pure  as  an  angel,  healthy  as  a  child,  and  overflowing  with 
kindness.  Nature  had  meant  her  to  know  all  the  joys,  all  the 
happiness,  all  the  burdens  of  motherhood. 

Yet  in  her  person  Mile.  Cormon  did  not  find  a  natural 
auxiliary  to  gain  her  heart's  desire.  She  had  no  beauty,  save 
of  the  kind  so  improperly  called  "  the  devil's;"  that  full- 
blown freshness  of  youth  which,  theologically  speaking,  the 
devil  never  could  have  possessed  ;  unless,  indeed,  we  are  to 
look  for  an  explanation  of  the  expression  in  the  devil's  con- 
tinual desire  of  refreshing  himself.  The  heiress'  feet  were 
large  and  flat ;  when,  on  rainy  days,  she  crossed  the  wet 
streets  between  her  house  and  St.  Leonard's,  her  raised  skirt 
displayed  (without  malice,  be  it  said)  a  leg  which  scarcely 
seemed  to  belong  to  a  woman,  so  muscular  was  it,  with  a 
small,  firm,  prominent  calf  like  a  sailor's.  She  had  a  figure 
for  a  wet  nurse.  Her  thick,  honest  waist,  her  strong,  plump 
arms,  her  red  hands ;  everything  about  her,  in  short,  was  in 
keeping  with  the  round,  expansive  contours  and  portly  fairness 
of  the  Norman  style  of  beauty.  Wide-open,  prominent  eyes 
of  no  particular  color,  gave  to  a  face,  by  no  means  distin- 
guished in  its  round  outlines,  a  sheepish,  astonished  expres- 
sion not  altogether  inappropriate,  however,  in  an  old  maid : 
even  if  Rose  had  not  been  innocent,  she  must  still  have  seemed 
so.  An  aquiline  nose  was  oddly  assorted  with  a  low  fore- 
head, for  a  feature  of  that  type  is  almost  invariably  found  in 
company  with  a  lofty  brow.  In  spite  of  thick,  red  lips,  the 


58  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

sign  of  great  kindliness  of  nature,  there  were  evidently  so  few 
ideas  behind  that  forehead,  that  Rose's  heart  could  scarcely 
have  been  directed  by  her  brain.  Kind  she  must  certainly  be, 
but  not  gracious.  And  we  are  apt  to  judge  the  defects  of 
goodness  very  harshly,  while  we  make  the  most  of  the  redeem- 
ing qualities  of  vice. 

An  extraordinary  length  of  chestnut  hair  lent  Rose  Cormon 
such  beauty  as  belongs  to  vigor  and  luxuriance,  her  chief  per- 
sonal characteristics.  In  the  time  of  her  pretensions  she  had 
a  trick  of  turning  her  face  in  three-quarters  profile  to  display 
a  very  pretty  ear,  gracefully  set  between  the  azure-streaked 
white  throat  and  the  temple,  and  thrown  into  relief  by  thick 
masses  of  her  hair.  Dressed  in  a  ball  gown,  with  her  head 
poised  at  this  angle,  Rose  might  almost  seem  beautiful.  With 
her  protuberant  bust,  her  waist,  her  high  health,  she  used  to 
draw  exclamations  of  admiration  from  Imperial  officers. 
"  What  a  fine  girl !  "  they  used  to  say. 

But,  as  years  went  on,  the  stoutness  induced  by  a  quiet, 
regular  life  distributed  itself  so  unfortunately  over  her  person, 
that  its  original  porportions  were  destroyed.  No  known 
variety  of  corset  could  have  discovered  the  poor  spinster's 
hips  at  this  period  of  her  existence  ;  she  might  have  been 
cast  in  one  uniform  piece.  The  youthful  proportions  of  her 
figure  were  completely  lost ;  her  dimensions  had  grown  so  ex- 
cessive that  no  one  could  see  her  stoop  without  fearing  that, 
being  so  top-heavy,  she  would  certainly  overbalance  herself; 
but  nature  had  provided  a  sufficient  natural  counterpoise,  which 
enabled  her  to  dispense  with  all  adventitious  aid  from  "  dress 
improvers."  Everything  about  Rose  was  very  genuine. 

Her  chin  developed  a  triple  fold,  which  reduced  the 
apparent  length  of  her  throat,  and  made  it  no  easy  matter  to 
turn  her  head.  She  had  no  wrinkles,  she  had  creases.  Wags 
used  to  assert  that  she  powdered  herself,  as  nurses  powder 
babies,  to  prevent  chafing  of  the  skin.  To  a  young  man, 
consumed,  like  Athanase,  with  suppressed  desires,  this  exces- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          59 

sive  corpulence  offered  just  the  kind  of  physical  charm  which 
could  not  fail  to  attract  youth.  Youthful  imaginations,  essen- 
tially intrepid,  stimulated  by  appetite,  are  prone  to  dilate  upon 
the  beauties  of  that  living  expanse.  So  does  the  plump  par- 
tridge allure  the  epicure's  knife.  And,  indeed,  any  debt- 
burdened  young  man  of  fashion  in  Paris  would  have  resigned 
himself  readily  enough  to  fulfilling  his  part  of  the  contract  and 
making  Mademoiselle  Cormon  happy.  Still  the  unfortunate 
spinster  had  already  passed  her  fortieth  year ! 

At  this  period  of  enforced  loneliness,  after  the  long,  vain 
struggle  to  fill  her  life  with  those  interests  that  are  all  in  all 
to  woman,  she  was  fortifying  herself  in  virtue  by  the  most 
strict  observance  of  religious  duties;  she  had  turned  to  the 
great  consolation  of  well-preserved  virginity.  A  confessor, 
endowed  with  no  great  wisdom,  had  directed  Mademoiselle 
Cormon  in  the  paths  of  asceticism  for  some  three  years  past, 
recommending  a  system  of  self-scourging  calculated,  according 
to  modern  doctors,  to  produce  an  effect  the  exact  opposite  of 
that  expected  by  the  poor  priest,  whose  knowledge  of  hygiene 
was  but  limited.  These  absurd  practices  were  beginning  to 
bring  a  certain  monastic  tinge  to  Rose  Cormon's  face ;  with 
frequent  pangs  of  despair,  she  watched  the  sallow  hues  of 
middle  age  creeping  across  its  natural  white  and  red ;  while 
the  trace  of  down  about  the  corners  of  her  upper  lip  showed 
a  distinct  tendency  to  darken  and  increase  like  smoke.  Her 
temples  grew  shiny.  She  had  passed  the  turning-point,  in 
fact.  It  was  known  for  certain  in  Alencon  that  Mademoiselle 
Cormon  suffered  from  heated  blood.  She  inflicted  her  confi- 
dence upon  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  reckoning  up  the  number 
of  foot-baths  that  she  took,  and  devising  cooling  treatment 
with  him.  And  that  shrewd  observer  would  end  by  taking 
out  his  snuff-box,  and  gazing  at  the  portrait  of  the  Princess 
Goritza  as  he  remarked:  "But  the  real  sedative,  my  dear 
young  lady,  would  be  a  good  and  handsome  husband." 

"  But  whom  could  one  trust  ?  "  returned  she. 


60  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

But  the  chevalier  only  flicked  away  the  powdered  snuff  from 
the  creases  of  his  paduasoy  vest.  To  anybody  else  the  pro- 
ceeding would  have  seemed  perfectly  natural,  but  it  always 
made  the  poor  old  maid  feel  uncomfortable. 

The  violence  of  her  objectless  longings  grew  to  such  a  height 
that  she  shrank  from  looking  a  man  in  the  face,  so  afraid  was 
she  that  the  thoughts  which  pierced  her  heart  might  be  read 
in  her  eyes.  It  was  one  of  her  whims,  possibly  a  later  devel- 
opment of  her  former  tactics,  to  behave  almost  ungraciously 
to  the  possible  suitors  toward  whom  she  still  felt  herself 
attracted,  so  afraid  was  she  of  being  accused  of  folly.  Most 
people  in  her  circle  were  utterly  incapable  of  appreciating  her 
motives,  so  noble  throughout ;  they  explained  her  manner  to 
her  coevals  in  single  blessedness  by  a  theory  of  revenge  for 
some  past  slight. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  year  1815  Rose  Cormon  had 
reached  the  fatal  age,  to  which  she  did  not  confess.  She  was 
forty-two.  By  this  time  her  desire  to  be  married  had  reached 
a  degree  of  intensity  bordering  on  monomania.  She  saw  her 
chances  of  motherhood  fast  slipping  away  forever;  and,  in 
her  divine  ignorance,  she  longed  above  all  things  for  children 
of  her  own.  There  was  not  a  soul  found  in  Alencon  to  im- 
pute a  single  unchaste  desire  to  the  virtuous  girl.  She  loved 
love,  taking  all  for  granted,  without  realizing  for  herself  what 
love  would  be — a  devout  Agnes,  incapable  of  inventing  one 
of  the  little  shifts  of  Moliere's  heroine. 

She  had  been  counting  upon  chance  of  late.  The  dis- 
banding of  the  Imperial  troops  and  the  reconstruction  of  the 
King's  army  was  sending  a  tide  of  military  men  back  to  their 
native  places,  some  of  them  on  half-pay,  some  with  pensions, 
some  without,  and  all  of  them  anxious  to  find  some  way  of 
amending  their  bad  fortune,  and  of  finishing  their  days  in  a 
fashion  which  would  mean  the  beginning  of  happiness  for 
Mile.  Cormon.  It  would  be  hard  indeed  if  she  could  not 
find  a  single  brave  and  honorable  man  among  all  those  who 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          61 

were  coming  back  to  the  neighborhood.  He  must  have  a 
sound  constitution  in  the  first  place,  he  must  be  of  suitable 
age,  and  a  man  whose  personal  character  would  serve  as  a 
passport  to  his  Bonapartist  opinions ;  perhaps  he  might  even 
be  willing  to  turn  Royalist  for  the  sake  of  gaining  a  lost  social 
position. 

Supported  by  these  mental  calculations,  Mile.  Cormon  main- 
tained the  severity  of  her  attitude  for  the  first  few  months  of 
the  year ;  but  the  men  that  came  back  to  the  town  were  all 
either  too  old  or  too  young,  or  their  characters  were  too  bad, 
or  their  opinions  too  Bonapartist,  or  their  station  in  life  was 
incompatible  with  her  position,  fortune,  and  habits.  The 
case  grew  more  and  more  desperate  every  day.  Officers  high 
in  the  service  had  used  their  advantages  under  Napoleon  to 
marry,  and  these  gentlemen  now  became  Royalists  for  the 
sake  of  their  families.  In  vain  had  she  put  up  prayers  to 
heaven  to  send  her  a  husband  that  she  might  be  happy  in 
Christian  fashion  ;  it  was  written,  no  doubt,  that  she  should 
die  virgin  and  martyr,  for  not  a  single  likely-looking  man 
presented  himself. 

In  the  course  of  conversation  in  her  drawing-room  of  an 
evening,  the  frequenters  of  the  house  kept  the  police  register 
under  tolerably  strict  supervision ;  no  one  could  arrive  at 
Alencon  but  they  informed  themselves  at  once  as  to  the  new- 
comer's mode  of  life,  quality,  and  fortune.  But,  at  the  same 
time,  Alencon  is  not  a  town  to  attract  many  strangers ;  it  is 
not  on  the  high  road  to  any  large  city ;  there  are  no  chance 
arrivals ;  naval  officers  on  their  way  to  Brest  do  not  so  much 
as  stop  i'n  the  place. 

Poor  Mile.  Cormon  at  last  comprehended  that  her  choice 
was  reduced  to  the  natives.  At  times  her  eyes  took  an  almost 
fierce  expression,  to  which  the  chevalier  would  respond  with  a 
keen  glance  at  her  as  he  drew  out  his  snuff-box  to  gaze  at  the 
Princess  Goritza.  M.  de  Valois  knew  that,  in  feminine  juris- 
prudence, fidelity  to  an  old  love  is  a  guarantee  for  the  new. 


62  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

But  Mile.  Cormon,  it  cannot  be  denied,  was  not  very  intelli- 
gent.    His  snuff-box  strategy  was  wasted  upon  her. 

She  redoubled  her  watchfulness,  the  better  to  combat  the 
"evil  one,"  and  with  devout  rigidness  and  the  sternest  prin- 
ciples she  consigned  her  cruel  sufferings  to  the  secret  places  of 
her  life. 

At  night,  when  she  was  alone,  she  thought  of  her  lost 
youth,  of  her  faded  bloom,  of  the  thwarted  instincts  of  her 
nature  ;  and  while  she  laid  her  passionate  longings  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross,  together  with  all  the  poetry  doomed  to  remain 
pent  within  her,  she  vowed  inwardly  to  take  the  first  man  that 
was  willing  to  marry  her,  just  as  he  was,  without  putting  him 
to  any  proof  whatsoever.  Sounding  her  own  dispositions, 
after  a  series  of  vigils,  each  more  trying  than  the  last,  in  her 
own  mind  she  went  so  far  as  to  espouse  a  sub-lieutenant,  a 
tobacco-smoker  to  boot ;  nay,  he  was  even  head  over  ears  in 
debt.  Him  she  proposed  to  transform  with  care,  submission, 
and  gentleness  into  a  pattern  for  mankind.  But  only  in  the 
silence  of  night  could  she  plan  these  imaginary  marriages,  in 
which  she  amused  herself  with  playing  the  sublime  part  of 
guardian  angel ;  with  morning,  if  Josette  found  her  mistress' 
bed-clothes  turned  topsy-turvy,  mademoiselle  had  recovered 
her  dignity ;  with  morning,  after  breakfast,  she  would  have 
nothing  less  than  a  solid  landowner,  a  well-preserved  man  of 
forty — a  young  man — as  you  may  say. 

The  Abbe  de  Sponde  was  incapable  of  giving  his  niece 
assistance  of  any  sort  in  schemes  for  marriage.  The  good 
man,  aged  seventy  or  thereabout,  referred  all  the  calamities 
of  the  Revolution  to  the  design  of  a  providence  prompt  to 
punish  a  dissolute  church.  For  which  reasons  M.  de  Sponde 
had  long  since  entered  upon  a  deserted  path  to  heaven,  the 
way  trodden  by  the  hermits  of  old.  He  led  an  ascetic  life, 
simply,  unobtrusively ;  hiding  his  deeds  of  charity,  his  con- 
stant prayer  and  fasting  from  all  other  eyes.  Necessity  was 
laid  upon  all  priests,  he  thought,  to  do  as  he  did ;  he  preached 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          63 

by  example,  turning  a  serene  and  smiling  face  upon  the  world, 
while  he  completely  cut  himself  off  from  worldly  interests. 
All  his  thoughts  were  given  to  the  afflicted,  to  the  needs  of 
the  church,  and  the  saving  of  his  own  soul.  He  left  the  man- 
agement of  his  property  to  his  niece.  She  paid  over  his 
yearly  income  to  him,  and,  after  a  slight  deduction  for  his 
maintenance,  the  whole  of  it  went  in  private  almsgiving  or  in 
donations  to  the  church. 

All  the  abbe's  affections  were  centred  upon  his  niece,  and 
she  looked  upon  him  as  a  father.  He  was  a  somewhat  absent- 
minded  father,  however,  without  the  remotest  conception  of 
the  rebellion  of  the  flesh ;  a  father  who  gave  thanks  to  God 
for  maintaining  his  beloved  daughter  in  a  state  of  virginity; 
for  from  his  youth  up  he  had  held,  with  St.  John  Chrysostom, 
"  that  virginity  is  as  much  above  the  estate  of  marriage  as  the 
angels  are  above  man." 

Mile.  Cormon  was  accustomed  to  look  up  to  her  uncle; 
she  did  not  venture  to  confide  her  wishes  for  a  change  of  con- 
dition to  him  ;  and  he,  good  man,  on  his  side  was  accustomed 
to  the  ways  of  the  house,  and  perhaps  might  not  have  relished 
the  introduction  of  a  master  into  it.  Absorbed  in  thoughts  of 
the  distress  which  he  relieved,  or  lost  in  fathomless  inner 
depths  of  prayer,  he  was  often  unconscious  of  what  was  going 
on  about  him  ;  frequenters  of  the  house  set  this  down  to  absent- 
mindedness  ;  but  while  he  said  little,  his  silence  was  neither 
unsociable  nor  ungenial.  A  tall,  spare,  grave,  and  solemn 
man,  his  face  told  of  kindly  feeling  and  a  great  inward  peace. 
His  presence  in  the  house  seemed,  as  it  were,  to  consecrate  it. 
The  abbe  entertained  a  strong  liking  for  that  elderly  skeptic 
the  Chevalier  de  Valois.  Far  apart  as  their  lives  were,  the 
two  grand  wrecks  of  the  eighteenth-century  clergy  and  noblesse 
recognized  each  other  by  generic  signs  and  tokens ;  and  the 
chevalier,  for  that  matter,  could  converse  with  unction  with 
the  abbe,  just  as  he  talked  like  a  father  with  his  grisettes. 

Some  may  think  that  Mile.  Cormon  would  leave  no  means 


64  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

untried  to  gain  her  end;  that  among  other  permissible  feminine 
artifices,  for  instance,  she  would  turn  to  her  toilettes,  wear 
low-cut  bodices,  use  the  passive  coquetry  of  a  display  of  the 
splendid  equipment  with  which  she  might  take  the  field.  On 
the  contrary,  she  was  as  heroic  and  steadfast  in  her  high- 
necked  gown  as  a  sentry  in  his  sentry-box.  All  her  dresses, 
bonnets,  and  finery  were  made  in  Alencon  by  two  hunch- 
backed sisters,  not  wanting  in  taste.  But  in  spite  of  the 
entreaties  of  the  two  artists,  Mile.  Cormon  utterly  declined 
the  adventitious  aid  of  elegance ;  she  must  be  substantial 
throughout,  body  and  plumage,  and  possibly  her  heavy-look- 
ing dresses  became  her  not  amiss.  Laugh  who  will  at  her, 
poor  thing.  Generous  natures,  those  who  never  trouble  them- 
selves about  the  form  in  which  good  feeling  shows  itself,  but 
admire  it  wherever  they  find  it,  will  see  something  sublime  in 
this  trait.  Perhaps  some  slight-natured  feminine  critic  may 
begin  to  carp,  and  say  that  there  is  no  woman  in  France  so 
simple  but  that  she  can  angle  for  a  husband,  that  Mile.  Cormon 
is  one  of  those  abnormal  creatures  which  commonsense  forbids 
us  to  take  for  a  type ;  that  the  best  or  the  most  babyish  un- 
married woman  that  has  a  mind  to  hook  a  gudgeon  can  put 
forward  some  physical  charm  wherewith  to  bait  her  line.  But 
when  you  begin  to  think  that  the  sublime  Apostolic  Roman 
Catholic  is  still  a  power  in  Brittany  and  the  ancient  duchy  of 
Alengon,  these  criticisms  fall  to  the  ground.  Faith  and  piety 
admit  no  such  subtleties.  Mile.  Cormon  kept  to  the  straight 
path,  preferring  the  misfortune  of  a  maidenhood  infinitely 
prolonged  to  the  misery  of  untruthfulness,  to  the  sin  of  small 
deceit.  Armed  with  self-discipline,  such  a  girl  cannot  make 
a  sacrifice  of  a  principle;  and  therefore  love  (or  self-interest) 
must  make  a  very  determined  effort  to  find  her  out  and  win 
her. 

Let  us  have  the  courage  to  make  a  confession,  painful  in 
these  days  when  religion  is  nothing  but  a  means  of  advance- 
ment for  some,  a  dream  for  others  ;  the  devout  are  subject  to 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          65 

a  kind  of  moral  ophthalmia,  which,  by  the  especial  grace  of 
providence,  removes  a  host  of  small  earthly  concerns  out  of 
the  sight  of  the  pilgrim  of  eternity.  In  a  word,  the  devout 
are  apt  to  be  dense  in  a  good  many  ways.  Their  stupidity,  at 
the  same  time,  is  a  measure  of  the  force  with  which  their 
spirits  turn  heavenward;  albeit  the  skeptical  M.  de  Valois 
maintained  that  it  is  a  moot  point  whether  stupid  women 
take  naturally  to  piety  or  whether  piety,  on  the  other  hand, 
has  a  stupefying  effect  upon  an  intelligent  girl.  • 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  the  purest  orthodox  good- 
ness, ready  to  drink  rapturously  of  every  cup  set  before  it,  to 
submit  devoutly  to  the  will  of  God,  to  see  the  print  of  the 
divine  finger  everywhere  in  the  clay  of  life — that  it  is  catholic 
virtue  stealing  like  hidden  light  into  the  innermost  recesses  of 
this  history  that  alone  can  bring  everything  into  right  relief, 
and  widen  its  significance  for  those  who  yet  have  faith.  And, 
again,  if  the  stupidity  is  admitted,  why  should  the  misfortunes 
of  stupidity  be  less  interesting  than  the  woes  of  genius  in  a 
world  where  fools  so  overwhelmingly  preponderate  ? 

To  resume:  Mile.  Cormon's  divine  girlish  ignorance  of  life 
was  an  offense  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  She  was  anything 
but  observant,  as  her  treatment  of  her  suitors  sufficiently 
showed.  At  this  very  moment,  a  girl  of  sixteen  who  had 
never  opened  a  novel  in  her  life  might  have  read  a  hundred 
chapters  of  romance  in  Athanase's  eyes.  But  Mile.  Cormon 
saw  nothing  all  the  while;  she  never  knew  that  the  young 
man's  voice  was  unsteady  with  emotion  which  he  dared  not 
express,  and  the  woman  who  could  invent  refinements  of  high 
sentiment  to  her  own  undoing  could  not  discern  the  same  feel- 
ings in  Athanase. 

Those  who  know  that  qualities  of  heart  and  brain  are  as  in- 
dependent of  each  other  as  genius  and  greatness  of  soul  will 
see  nothing  extraordinary  in  this  psychological  phenomenon. 
A  complete  human  being  is  so  rare  a  prodigy  that  Socrates, 
that  pearl  among  mankind,  agreed  with  a  contemporary  phre- 
5 


66  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

nologist  that  he  himself  was  born  to  be  a  very  scurvy  knave. 
A  great  general  may  save  his  country  at  Zurich,  and  yet  take 
a  commission  from  contractors;  a  banker's  doubtful  honesty 
does  not  prevent  him  from  being  a  statesman  ;  a  great  com- 
poser may  give  the  world  divine  music,  and  yet  forge  another 
man's  signature  j  and  a  woman  of  refined  feeling  may  be 
excessively  weak-minded.  In  short,  a  devout  woman  may 
have  a  very  lofty  soul,  and  yet  have  no  ears  to  hear  the  voice 
of  another  noble  soul  at  her  side. 

The  unaccountable  freaks  of  physical  infirmity  find  a  par- 
allel in  the  moral  world.  Here  was  a  good  creature  making 
her  preserves  and  breaking  her  heart  till  she  grew  almost 
ridiculous,  because,  forsooth,  there  was  no  one  to  eat  them 
but  her  uncle  and  herself.  Those  who  sympathized  with  her 
for  the  sake  of  her  good  qualities,  or,  in  some  cases,  on  account 
of  her  defects,  used  to  laugh  over  her  disappointments.  People 
began  to  wonder  what  would  become  of  so  fine  a  property  with 
all  Mile.  Cormon's  savings,  and  her  uncle's  to  boot. 

It  was  long  since  they  began  to  suspect  that  at  bottom,  and 
in  spite  of  appearances,  Mile.  Cormon  was  "an  original." 
Originality  is  not  allowed  in  the  provinces ;  originality  means 
that  you  have  ideas  which  nobody  else  can  understand,  and  m 
a  country  town  people's  intellects,  like  their  manner  of  life, 
must  all  be  on  a  level.  Even  in  1804  Rose's  matrimonial 
prospects  were  considered  so  problematical,  that  "  to  marry 
like  Mile.  Cormon"  was  a  current  saying  in  Alencon,  and 
the  most  ironical  way  of  suggesting  Such-an-one  would  never 
marry  at  all. 

The  necessity  to  laugh  at  some  one  must  indeed  be  im- 
perious in  France,  if  any  one  could  be  found  to  raise  a  smile 
at  the  expense  of  that  excellent  creature.  Not  merely  did  she 
entertain  the  whole  town,  she  was  charitable,  she  was  good  ; 
she  was  incapable  of  saying  a  spiteful  word  ;  and  more  than 
that,  she  was  so  much  in  unison  with  the  whole  spirit  of  the 
place,  its  manners  and  its  customs,  that  she  was  generally  be- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          67 

loved  as  the  very  incarnation  of  the  life  of  the  province  ;  she 
had  imbibed  all  its  prejudices  and  made  its  interests  hers ;  she 
had  never  gone  beyond  its  limits,  she  adored  it ;  she  was  im- 
bedded in  provincial  tradition.  In  spite  of  her  eighteen  thou- 
sand livres  per  annum,  a  tolerably  large  income  for  the  neigh- 
borhood, she  accommodated  herself  to  the  ways  of  her  less 
wealthy  neighbors.  When  she  went  to  her  country  house, 
the  Prebaudet,  for  instance,  she  drove  over  in  an  old-fashioned 
wicker  cariole  hung  with  white  leather  straps,  and  fitted 
with  a  couple  of  rusty  weather-beaten  leather  curtains,  which 
scarcely  closed  it  in.  The  equipage,  drawn  by  a  fat,  broken- 
winded  mare,  was  known  all  over  the  town.  Jacquelin,  the 
manservant,  cleaned  it  as  carefully  as  if  it  had  been  the  finest 
carriage  from  Paris.  Mademoiselle  was  fond  of  it ;  it  had 
lasted  her  a  dozen  years,  a  fact  which  she  was  wont  to  point 
out  with  the  triumphant  joy  of  contented  parsimony.  Most 
people  were  grateful  to  her  for  forbearing  to  humiliate  them 
by  splendor  which  she  might  have  flaunted  before  their  eyes  ; 
it  is  even  credible  that  if  she  had  sent  for  a  caleche  from 
Paris,  it  would  have  caused  more  talk  than  any  of  her  "  dis- 
appointments." After  all,  the  finest  carriage  in  the  world, 
like  the  old-fashioned  cariole,  could  only  have  taken  her  to 
the  Prebaudet ;  and  in  the  provinces  they  always  keep  the  end 
in  view,  and  trouble  themselves  very  little  about  the  elegance 
of  the  means,  provided  that  they  are  sufficient. 

To  complete  the  picture  of  Mile.  Cormon's  household  and 
domestic  life,  several  figures  must  be  grouped  round  Mile. 
Cormon  and  the  Abbe  de  Sponde.  Jacquelin,  and  Josette, 
and  Mariette,  the  cook,  ministered  to  the  comfort  of  uncle 
and  niece. 

Jacquelin,  a  man  of  forty,  short  and  stout,  dark-haired  and 
ruddy,  with  a  countenance  of  the  Breton  sailor  type,  had  been 
in  service  in  the  house  for  twenty-two  years.  He  waited  at 
table,  groomed  the  mare,  worked  in  the  garden,  cleaned  the 
abb£'s  shoes,  ran  errands,  chopped  firewood,  drove  the  cariole, 


68  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOIVN. 

went  to  the  Prebaudet  for  corn,  hay,  and  straw,  and  slept  like 
a  dormouse  in  the  antechamber  of  an  evening.  He  was  sup- 
posed to  be  fond  of  Josette,  and  Josette  was  six-and-thirty. 
But  if  she  had  married  him,  Mile.  Cormon  would  have  dis- 
missed her,  and  so  the  poor  lovers  were  fain  to  save  up  their 
wages  in  silence,  and  to  wait  and  hope  for  mademoiselle's 
marriage,  much  as  the  Jews  look  for  the  advent  of  the  Mes- 
siah. 

Josette  came  from  the  district  between  Alencon  and  Mor- 
tagne  ;  she  was  a  fat  little  woman.  Her  face,  which  reminded 
you  of  a  mud-bespattered  apricot,  was  not  wanting  either  in 
character  or  intelligence.  She  was  supposed  to  rule  her  mis- 
tress. Josette  and  Jacquelin,  feeling  sure  of  the  event,  found 
consolation,  presumably,  by  discounting  the  future.  Mariette, 
the  cook,  had  likewise  been  in  the  family  for  fifteen  years  ; 
she  was  skilled  in  the  cookery  of  the  country  and  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  most  esteemed  provincial  dishes. 

Perhaps  the  fat,  old  bay  mare,  of  the  Normandy  breed, 
which  Mile.  Cormon  used  to  drive  to  the  Prebaudet,  ought 
to  count  for  a  good  deal,  for  the  affection  which  the  five 
inmates  of  the  house  bore  the  animal  amounted  to  mania. 
Penelope,  for  that  was  her  name,  had  been  with  them  for 
eighteen  years ;  and  so  well  was  she  cared  for,  so  regularly 
tended,  that  Jacquelin  and  mademoiselle  hoped  to  get  quite 
another  ten  years  of  work  out  of  her.  Penelope  was  a  stock 
subject  and  source  of  interest  in  their  lives.  It  seemed  as  if 
poor  Mile.  Cormon,  with  no  child  of  her  own,  lavished  all  her 
maternal  affection  upon  the  lucky  beast.  Almost  every  human 
being  leading  a  solitary  life  in  a  crowded  world  will  surround 
himself  with  a  make-believe  family  of  some  sort,  and  Penelope 
took  the  place  of  dogs,  cats,  or  canaries. 

These  four  faithful  servants — for  Penelope's  intelligence  had 
been  trained  till  it  was  very  nearly  on  a  par  with  the  wits  of  the 
other  three,  while  they  had  sunk  pretty  much  into  the  dumb, 
submissive  jog-trot  life  of  the  animal — these  four  retainers 


THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          69 

came  and  went  and  did  the  same  things  day  after  day,  with 
the  unfailing  regularity  of  clockwork.  But,  to  use  their  own 
expression,  "  they  had  first  eaten  their  white  bread."  Mile. 
Cormon  suffered  from  a  fixed  idea  upon  the  nerves ;  and,  after 
the  wont  of  such  sufferers,  she  grew  fidgety  and  hard  to  please, 
not  by  force  of  nature,  but  because  she  had  no  outlet  for  her 
energies.  She  had  neither  husband  nor  children  to  fill  her 
thoughts,  so  they  fastened  upon  trifles.  She  would  talk  for 
hours  at  a  stretch  of  some  inconceivably  small  matter,  of  a 
dozen  serviettes,  for  instance,  lettered  Z,  which  somehow  or 
other  had  been  put  before  O. 

"Why,  what  can  Josette  be  thinking  about?"  she  cried. 
"  Has  she  no  notion  what  she  is  doing?  " 

Jacquelin  chanced  to  be  late  in  feeding  Penelope  one  after- 
noon, so  every  day  for  a  whole  week  afterward  mademoiselle 
inquired  whether  the  horse  had  been  fed  at  two  o'clock.  Her 
narrow  imagination  spent  itself  on  small  matters.  A  layer  of 
dust  forgotten  by  the  feather-duster,  a  slice  of  scorched  toast, 
an  omission  to  close  the  blinds  on  Jacquelin's  part  when  the 
sun  shone  in  upon  furniture  and  carpets— all  these  important 
trifles  produced  serious  trouble,  mademoiselle  lost  her  temper 
over  them.  "Nothing  was  the  same  as  it  used  to  be.  The 
servants  of  old  days  were  so  changed  that  she  did  not  know 
them.  They  were  spoilt.  She  was  too  good  to  them,"  and 
so  forth  and  so  forth.  One  day  Josette  gave  her  mistress 
the  "Journee  du  Chretien"*  instead  of  the  "Quinzaine  de 
Paques."f  The  whole  town  heard  of  the  mistake  before  night. 
Mademoiselle  had  been  obliged  to  get  up  and  come  out  of 
church,  disturbing  whole  rows  of  chairs  and  raising  the  wild- 
est conjectures,  so  that  she  was  obliged  afterward  to  give 
all  her  friends  a  full  account  of  the  mishap. 

"Josette,"  she  said  mildly,  when  she  had  come  the  whole 
way  home  from  St.  Leonard's,  "  this  must  never  happen 
again." 

*  The  Christian's  Journey.  f  Fifteen  Easters. 


70  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Mile.  Cormon  was  far  from  suspecting  that  it  was  a  very 
fortunate  thing  for  her  that  she  could  vent  her  spleen  in  petty 
squabbles.  The  mind,  like  the  body,  requires  exercise ;  these 
quarrels  were  a  sort  of  mental  gymnastics.  Josette  and  Jac- 
quelin  took  such  unevennesses  of  temper  as  the  agricultural 
laborer  takes  the  changes  of  the  weather.  The  three  good 
souls  could  say  among  themselves  that  "It  is  a  fine  day,"  or 
"It  rains,"  without  murmuring  against  the  powers  above. 
Sometimes  in  the  kitchen  of  a  morning  they  would  wonder  in 
what  humor  mademoiselle  would  wake,  much  as  a  farmer 
studies  the  morning  mists.  And  of  necessity  Mile.  Cormon 
ended  by  seeing  herself  in  all  the  infinitely  small  details  which 
made  up  her  life.  Herself  and  God,  her  confessor  and  her 
washing-days,  the  preserves  to  be  made,  the  services  of  the 
church  to  attend,  and  the  uncle  to  take  care  of — all  these 
things  absorbed  faculties  that  were  none  of  the  strongest. 
For  her  the  atoms  of  life  were  magnified  by  virtue  of  an 
optical  process  peculiar  to  the  selfish  or  the  self-absorbed. 
To  so  perfectly  healthy  a  woman,  the  slightest  symptom  of 
indigestion  was  a  positively  alarming  portent.  She  lived, 
moreover,  under  the  ferule  of  the  system  of  medicine  prac- 
ticed by  our  grandsires;  a  drastic  purgative  dose  fit  to  kill 
Penelope,  taken  four  times  a  year,  merely  gave  Mile.  Cormon 
a  fillip. 

What  tremendous  ransackings  of  the  week's  dietary  if 
Josette,  assisting  her  mistress  to  dress,  discovered  a  scarcely 
visible  pimple  on  shoulders  that  still  boasted  a  satin  skin  ! 
What  triumph  if  the  maid  could  bring  a  certain  hare  to  her 
mistress'  recollection,  and  trace  the  accursed  pimple  to  its 
origin  in  that  too  heating  article  of  food  !  With  what  joy  the 
two  women  would  cry  :  "It  is  the  hare  beyond  a  doubt !  " 

"  Mariette  over-seasoned  it,"  mademoiselle  would  add; 
"  I  always  tell  her  not  to  overdo  it  for  my  uncle  and  me,  but 
Mariette  has  no  more  memory  than " 

"Than  the  hare,"  suggested  Josette. 


THE  JEALOUSIES  OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          71 

"It  is  the  truth,"  returned  mademoiselle;  "she  has  no 
more  memory  than  the  hare;  you  have  just  hit  it." 

Four  times  in  a  year,  at  the  beginning  of  each  season,  Mile. 
Cormon  went  to  spend  a  certain  number  of  days  at  the  Pre- 
baudet.  It  was  now  the  middle  of  May,  when  she  liked  to  see 
how  her  apple  trees  had  "snowed,"  as  they  say  in  the  cider 
country,  an  allusion  to  the  white  blossoms  strewn  in  the  or- 
chards in  the  spring.  When  the  circles  of  fallen  petals  look 
like  snowdrifts  under  the  trees,  the  proprietor  may  hope  to 
have  abundance  of  cider  in  the  autumn.  Mile.  Cormon  esti- 
mated her  barrels,  and  at  the  same  time  superintended  any 
necessary  after-winter  repairs,  planning  out  work  in  the  garden 
and  orchard,  from  which  she  drew  no  inconsiderable  supplies. 
Each  time  of  year  had  its  special  business. 

Mademoiselle  used  to  give  a  farewell  dinner  to  her  faithful 
inner  circle  before  leaving,  albeit  she  would  see  them  again  at 
the  end  of  three  weeks.  All  Alencon  knew  when  the  journey 
was  to  be  undertaken.  Any  one  that  had  fallen  behindhand 
immediately  paid  a  call,  her  drawing-room  was  filled;  every- 
body wished  her  a  prosperous  journey,  as  if  she  had  been  start- 
ing for  Calcutta.  Then,  in  the  morning,  all  the  tradespeople 
were  standing  in  their  doorways ;  every  one,  great  and  small, 
watched  the  cariole  go  past,  and  it  seemed  as  if  everybody 
learned  a  piece  of  fresh  news  when  one  repeated  after  another, 
"  So  Mademoiselle  Cormon  is  going  to  the  Prebaudet." 

One  would  remark  :  "  She  has  bread  ready  baked,  she  has  !  " 

And  his  neighbor  would  return:  "Eh!  my  lad,  she  is  a 
good  woman  ;  if  property  always  fell  into  such  hands  as  hers, 
there  would  not  be  a  beggar  to  be  seen  in  the  countryside." 

Or  another  would  exclaim  :  "  Halloo  !  I  should  not  wonder 
if  our  oldest  vines  are  in  flower,  for  there  is  Mademoiselle 
Cormon  setting  out  for  the  Prebaudet.  How  comes  it  that 
she  is  so  little  given  to  marrying?" 

"I  should  be  quite  ready  to  marry  her,  all  the  same,"  a 


72  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

wag  would  answer.  "  The  marriage  is  half  made — one  side 
is  willing,  but  the  other  isn't.  Pooh  !  the  oven  is  heating  for 
Monsieur  du  Bousquier." 

" Monsieur  du  Bousquier?     She  has  refused  him." 
At  every  house  that  evening  people  remarked  solemnly : 
"  Mademoiselle  Cormon  has  gone." 

Or  perhaps  :  "  So  you  have  let  Mademoiselle  Cormon  go  !  " 
The  Wednesday  selected  by  Suzanne  for  making  a  scandal 
chanced  to  be  this  very  day  of  leave-taking,  when  Mile.  Cor- 
mon nearly  drove  Josette  to  distraction  over  the  packing  of 
the  parcels  which  she  meant  to  take  with  her.  A  good  deal 
that  was  done  and  said  in  the  town  that  morning  was  like  to  lend 
additional  interest  to  the  farewell  gathering  at  night.  While 
the  old  maid  was  busily  making  preparations  for  her  journey ; 
while  the  astute  chevalier  was  playing  his  game  of  piquet  in 
the  house  of  Mile.  Armande  de  Gordes,  sister  of  the  aged 
Marquis  de  Gordes  and  queen  of  the  aristocratic  salon,  Mme. 
Granson  had  sounded  the  alarm  bell  in  half  a  score  of  houses. 
There  was  not  a  soul  but  felt  some  curiosity  to  see  what  sort 
of  figure  the  seducer  would  cut  that  evening ;  and  to  Mme. 
Granson  and  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  it  was  an  important 
matter  to  know  how  Mile.  Cormon  would  take  the  news,  in 
her  double  quality  of  marriageable  spinster  and  lady  presi- 
dent of  the  Maternity  Fund.  As  for  the  unsuspected  du 
Bousquier,  he  was  taking  the  air  on  the  parade.  He  was  just 
beginning  to  think  that  Suzanne  had  made  a  fool  of  him  ;  and 
this  suspicion  only  confirmed  the  rules  which  he  had  laid 
down  with  regard  to  womankind. 

On  these  high  days  the  cloth  was  laid  about  half-past  three 
in  the  Cormon  house.  Four  o'clock  was  the  state  dinner 
hour  in  Alencon,  on  ordinary  days  they  dined  at  two,  as  in 
the  time  of  the  Empire  ;  but  then,  they  supped  ! 

Mile.  Cormon  always  felt  an  inexpressible  sense  of  satis- 
faction when  she  was  dressed  to  receive  her  guests  as  mistress 
of  her  house.  It  was  one  of  the  pleasures  which  she  most 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.          73 

relished,  be  it  said  without  malice,  though  egoism  certainly 
lay  beneath  the  feeling.  When  thus  arrayed  for  conquest,  a 
ray  of  hope  slid  across  the  darkness  of  her  soul ;  a  voice 
within  her  cried  that  nature  had  not  endowed  her  so  abund- 
antly in  vain,  that  surely  some  enterprising  man  was  about  to 
appear  for  her.  She  felt  the  younger  for  the  wish  and  the 
fresher  for  her  toilet ;  she  looked  at  her  stout  figure  with  a 
certain  elation  ;  and  afterward,  when  she  went  downstairs  to 
submit  salon,  study,  and  boudoir  to  an  awful  scrutiny,  this 
sense  of  satisfaction  still  remained  with  her.  To  and  fro  she 
went,  with  the  naive  contentment  of  the  rich  man  who  feels 
conscious  at  every  moment  that  he  is  rich  and  will  lack  for 
nothing  all  his  life  long.  She  looked  round  upon  her  fur- 
niture, the  eternal  furniture,  the  antiquities,  the  lacquered 
panels,  and  told  herself  that  such  fine  things  ought  to  have 
a  master. 

After  admiring  the  dining-room,  where  the  space  was  filled 
by  the  long  table  with  its  snowy  cloth,  its  score  of  covers 
symmetrically  laid ;  after  going  through  the  roll-call  of  a 
squadron  of  bottles  ordered  up  from  the  cellar,  and  making 
sure  that  each  bore  an  honorable  label ;  and  finally,  after  a  most 
minute  verification  of  a  score  of  little  slips  of  paper  on  which 
the  abbe  had  written  the  names  of  the  guests  with  a  trembling 
hand — it  was  the  sole  occasion  on  which  he  took  an  active 
part  in  the  household,  and  the  place  of  every  guest  always 
gave  rise  to  grave  discussion — after  this  review,  Mile.  Cor- 
mon  in  her  fine  array  went  into  the  garden  to  join  her  uncle ; 
for  at  this  pleasantest  hour  of  the  day  he  used  to  walk  up 
and  down  the  terrace  beside  the  Brillante,  listening  to  the 
twittering  of  the  birds,  which,  hidden  closely  among  the 
leaves  in  the  lime-tree  walk,  knew  no  fear  of  boys  or  sports- 
men. 

Mile.  Cormon  never  came  out  to  the  abbe  during  these 
intervals  of  waiting  without  asking  some  hopelessly  absurd 
question,  in  the  hope  of  drawing  the  good  man  into  a  discus- 


74  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

sion  which  might  interest  him.  Her  reasons  for  so  doing 
must  be  given,  for  this  very  characteristic  trait  adds  the 
finishing  touch  to  her  portrait. 

Mile.  Cormon  considered  it  a  duty  to  talk ;  not  that  she 
was  naturally  loquacious,  for,  unfortunately,  with  her  dearth 
of  ideas  and  very  limited  stock  of  phrases,  it  was  difficult  to 
hold  forth  at  any  length  ;  but  she  thought  that  in  this  way 
she  was  fulfilling  the  social  duties  prescribed  by  religion, 
which  bids  us  be  agreeable  to  our  neighbor.  It  was  a  duty 
which  weighed  so  much  upon  her  mind  that  she  had  submitted 
this  case  of  conscience  out  of  the  "  Child's  Guide  to  Manners  " 
to  her  director,  the  Abbe  Couturier.  Whereupon,  so  far  from 
being  disarmed  by  the  penitent's  humble  admission  of  the 
violence  of  her  mental  struggles  to  find  something  to  say,  the 
old  ecclesiastic,  being  firm  in  matters  of  discipline,  read  her  a 
whole  chapter  out  of  St.  Fran£ois  de  Sales  on  the  "  Duties  of 
a  Woman  in  the  World ;  "  on  the  decent  gayety  of  the  pious 
Christian  female,  and  the  duty  of  confining  her  austerities  to 
herself;  a  woman,  according  to  this  authority,  ought  to  be 
amiable  in  her  home  and  to  act  in  such  sort  that  her  neigh- 
bor never  feels  dull  in  her  company.  After  this,  Mile.  Cor- 
mon, with  a  deep  sense  of  duty,  was  anxious  to  obey  her 
director  at  any  cost.  He  had  bidden  her  to  discourse  agree- 
ably, so  every  time  the  conversation  languished  she  felt  the 
perspiration  breaking  out  over  her  with  the  violence  of  her 
exertions  to  find  something  to  say  which  should  stimulate  the 
flagging  interest.  She  would  come  out  with  odd  remarks  at 
such  times.  Once  she  revived,  with  some  success,  a  discussion 
on  the  ubiquity  of  the  apostles  (of  which  she  understood  not 
a  syllable)  by  the  unexpected  observation  that  "You  cannot 
be  in  two  places  at  once  unless  you  are  a  bird."  With  such 
conversational  cues  as  these,  the  lady  had  earned  the  title  of 
"dear,  good  Mademoiselle  Cormon  "  in  her  set,  which  phrase, 
in  the  mouth  of  local  wits,  might  be  taken  to  mean  that  she 
was  as  ignorant  as  a  carp,  and  a  bit  of  a  "  natural ;  "  but  there 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  7 OWN.          75 

were  plenty  of  people  of  her  own  calibre  to  take  the  remark 
literally,  and  reply:  "Oh,  yes,  Mademoiselle  Corraon  is  very 
good." 

Sometimes  (always  in  her  desire  to  be  agreeable  to  hep 
guests  and  fulfill  her  duties  as  a  hostess)  she  asked  such  absurd 
questions  that  everybody  burst  out  laughing.  She  wanted  to 
know,  for  example,  what  the  Government  did  with  the  taxes 
which  it  had  been  receiving  all  these  years  ;  or  how  it  was 
that  the  Bible  had  not  been  printed  in  the  time  of  Christ, 
seeing  that  it  had  been  written  by  Moses.  Altogether  she  was 
on  a  par  with  the  English  country  gentleman,  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  who  made  the  famous  speech  in 
which  he  said  :  "  I  am  always  hearing  of  Posterity;  I  should 
very  much  like  to  know  what  Posterity  has  done  for  the 
country." 

On  such  occasions,  the  heroic  Chevalier  de  Valois  came  to 
the  rescue,  bringing  up  all  the  resources  of  his  wit  and  tact  at 
the  sight  of  the  smiles  exchanged  by  pitiless  smatterers.  He 
loved  to  give  to  woman,  did  this  elderly  noble ;  he  lent  his 
wit  to  Mile.  Cormon  by  coming  to  her  assistance  with  a  para- 
dox, and  covered  her  retreat  so  well,  that  sometimes  it  seemed 
as  if  she  had  said  nothing  foolish.  She  once  owned  seriously 
that  she  did  not  know  the  difference  between  an  ox*  and  a 
bull.  The  enchanting  chevalier  stopped  the  roars  of  laughter 
by  saying  that  oxen  could  never  be  more  than  uncles  to  the 
bullocks.  Another  time,  hearing  much  talk  of  cattle-breeding 
and  its  difficulties — a  topic  which  often  comes  up  in  conversa- 
tion in  the  neighborhood  of  the  superb  du  Pin  stud — she  so 
far  grasped  the  technicalities  of  horse-breeding  as  to  ask : 
"Why,  if  they  wanted  colts,  they  did  not  serve  a  mare  twice 
a  year  ?"  The  chevalier  drew  down  the  laughter  upon  himself. 

"It  is  quite  possible,"  said  he.  The  company  pricked  up 
its  ears. 

"The  fault  lies  with  the  naturalists,"  he  continued  ;  "they 
*  Draught  oxen  are  emasculated. 


76  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

have  not  found  out  how  to  breed  mares  that  are  less  than 
eleven  months  in  foal." 

Poor  Mile.  Cormon  no  more  understood  the  meaning  of 
the  words  than  the  difference  between  the  ox  and  the  bull. 
The  chevalier  met  with  no  gratitude  for  his  pains ;  his  chival- 
rous services  were  beyond  the  reach  of  the  lady's  compre- 
hension. She  saw  that  the  conversation  grew  livelier ;  she 
was  relieved  to  find  that  she  was  not  so  stupid  as  she  imagined. 
A  day  came  at  last  when  she  settled  down  in  her  ignorance, 
like  the  Due  de  Brancas;  and  the  hero  of  "  Le  Distrait,"  it 
may  be  remembered,  made  himself  so  comfortable  in  the  ditch 
after  his  fall  that,  when  the  people  came  to  pull  him  out,  he 
asked  what  they  wanted  with  him.  Since  a  somewhat  recent 
period  Mile.  Cormon  had  lost  her  fears.  She  brought  out  her 
conversational  cues  with  a  self-possession  akin  to  that  solemn 
manner — the  very  coxcombry  of  stupidity — which  accompanies 
the  fatuous  utterances  of  British  patriotism. 

As  she  went  with  stately  steps  toward  the  terrace,  therefore, 
she  was  chewing  the  cud  of  reflection,  seeking  for  some  ques- 
tion which  should  draw  her  uncle  out  of  a  silence  which 
always  hurt  her  feelings ;  she  thought  that  he  felt  dull. 

"Uncle,"  she  began,  hanging  on  his  arm,  and  nestling 
joyously  close  to  him  (for  this  was  another  of  her  make-believes, 
"If  I  had  a  husband,  I  should  do  just  so!  "  she  thought); 
"uncle,  if  everything  on  earth  happens  by  the  will  of  God, 
there  must  be  a  reason  for  everything." 

"Assuredly,"  the  Abbe  de  Sponde  answered  gravely.  He 
loved  his  niece,  and  submitted  with  angelic  patience  to  be 
torn  from  his  meditations. 

"Then  if  I  never  marry  at  all,  it  will  be  because  it  is  the 
will  of  God?" 

"Yes,  my  child." 

"  But  still,  as  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  me  from  marrying 
to-morrow,  my  will  perhaps  might  thwart  the  will  of  God?" 

"  That  might  be  so,  if  we  really  knew  God's  will,"  returned 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          77 

the  sub-prior  of  the  Sorbonne.  "  Remark,  my  dear,  that  you 
insert  an  if." 

Poor  Rose  was  bewildered.  She  had  hoped  to  lead  her 
uncle  to  the  subject  of  marriage  by  way  of  an  argument  ad 
omnipotentem.  But  the  naturally  obtuse  are  wont  to  adopt  the 
remorseless  logic  of  childhood,  which  is  to  say,  they  proceed 
from  the  answer  to  another  question,  a  method  frequently 
found  embarrassing. 

"But,  uncle,"  she  persisted,  "God  cannot  mean  women 
never  to  marry ;  for  if  He  did,  all  of  them  ought  to  be  either 
unmarried  or  married.  Their  lots  are  distributed  unjustly." 

"My  child,"  said  the  good  abbe,  "you  are  finding  fault 
with  the  church,  which  teaches  that  celibacy  is  a  more  excel- 
lent way  to  God." 

"But  if  the  church  was  right,  and  everybody  was  a  good 
Catholic,  there  would  soon  be  no  more  people,  uncle." 

"  You  are  too  ingenious,  Rose ;  there  is  no  need  to  be  so 
ingenious  to  be  happy." 

Such  words  brought  a  smile  of  satisfaction  to  poor  Rose's 
lips  and  confirmed  her  in  the  good  opinion  which  she  began 
to  conceive  of  herself.  Behold  how  the  world,  like  our 
friends  and  enemies,  contributes  to  strengthen  our  faults.  At 
this  moment  guests  began  to  arrive,  and  the  conversation  was 
interrupted.  On  these  high  festival  occasions,  the  disposition 
of  the  rooms  brought  about  little,  familiarities  between  the 
servants  and  invited  guests.  Mariette  saw  the  president  of 
the  Tribunal,  a  triple  expansion  glutton,  as  he  passed  by  her 
kitchen. 

"Oh,  Monsieur  du  Ronceret,  I  have  been  making  cauli- 
flower au  gratin  on  purpose  for  you,  for  mademoiselle  knows 
how  fond  you  are  of  it.  'Mind  you  do  not  fail  with  it, 
Mariette,'  she  said ;  '  Monsieur  le  President  is  coming.' ' 

"Good  Mademoiselle  Cormon,"  returned  the  man  of  law. 
"Mariette,  did  you  baste  the  cauliflowers  with  gravy  instead 
of  stock?  It  is  more  savory."  And  the  president  did  not 


78  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

disdain  to  enter  the  council-chamber  where  Mariette  ruled  the 
roast,  nor  to  cast  an  epicure's  eye  over  her  preparations,  and 
give  his  opinion  as  a  master  of  the  craft. 

"Good-day,  madame,"  said  Josette,  addressing  Mme. 
Granson,  who  sedulously  cultivated  the  waiting-woman. 
"Mademoiselle  has  not  forgotten  you;"  you  are  to  have  a 
dish  of  fish." 

As  for  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  he  spoke  to  Mariette  with 
the  jocularity  of  a  great  noble  unbending  to  an  inferior — 

"  Well,  dear  cordon  bleu,  I  would  give  you  the  cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor  if  I  could  ;  tell  me,  is  there  any  dainty 
morsel  for  which  one  ought  to  save  one's  self?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  Monsieur  de  Valois,  a  hare  from  the  Pr6baudet ; 
it  weighed  fourteen  pounds  !  " 

"  That's  a  good  girl,"  said  the  chevalier,  patting  Josette  on 
the  cheek  with  two  fingers.  "Ah!  weighs  fourteen  pounds, 
does  it?" 

Du  Bousquier  was  not  of  the  party.  Mile.  Cormon  treated 
him  hardly,  faithful  to  her  system  before  described.  In  the 
very  bottom  of  her  heart  she  felt  an  inexplicable  drawing  to- 
ward this  man  of  fifty,  whom  she  had  once  refused.  Some- 
times she  repented  of  that  refusal,  and  yet  she  had  a  presenti- 
ment that  she  should  marry  him  after  all,  and  a  dread  of  him 
which  forbade  her  to  wish  for  the  marriage.  These  ideas 
stimulated  her  interest  in  du  Bousquier.  The  Republican's 
herculean  proportions  produced  an  effect  upon  her  which  she 
would  not  admit  to  herself;  and  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  and 
Mme.  Granson,  while  they  could  not  explain  Mile.  Cormon's 
inconsistencies,  had  detected  naive,  furtive  glances,  sufficiently 
clear  in  their  significance  to  set  them  both  on  the  watch  to 
ruin  the  hopes  which  du  Bousquier  clearly  entertained  in  spite 
of  a  first  check. 

Two  guests  kept  the  others  waiting,  but  their  official  du- 
ties excused  them  both.  One  was  M.  du  Coudrai,  registrar 
of  mortgages;  the  other,  M.  Choisnel,  had  once  acted  as 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          79 

land-steward  to  the  Marquis  de  Gordes.  Choisnel  was  the 
notary  of  the  old  noblesse,  and  received  everywhere  among 
them  with  the  distinction  which  his  merits  deserved ;  he  had 
beside  a  not  inconsiderable  private  fortune.  When  the  two 
late-comers  arrived,  Jacquelin,  the  manservant,  seeing  them 
turn  to  go  into  the  drawing-room,  came  forward  with : 
"'They'  are  all  in  the  garden." 

The  registrar  of  mortgages  was  one  of  the  most  amiable 
men  in  the  town.  There  were  but  two  things  against  him — 
he  had  married  an  old  woman  for  her  money  in  the  first 
place,  and  in  the  second  it  was  his  habit  to  perpetrate  out- 
rageous puns,  at  which  he  was  the  first  to  laugh.  But,  doubt- 
less, the  stomachs  of  the  guests  were  growing  impatient,  for 
at  first  sight  he  was  hailed  with  that  faint  sigh  which  usually 
welcomes  last-comers  under  such  circumstances.  Pending 
the  official  announcement  of  dinner,  the  company  strolled  up 
and  down  the  terrace  by  the  Brillante,  looking  out  over  the 
stream  with  its  bed  of  mosaic  and  its  water-plants,  at  the  so 
picturesque  details  of  the  row  of  houses  huddled  together  on 
the  opposite  bank ;  the  old-fashioned  wooden  balconies,  the 
tumble-down  window-sills,  the  balks  of  timber  that  shored  up 
a  story  projecting  over  the  river,  the  cabinet-maker's  work- 
shop, the  tiny  gardens  where  odds  and  ends  of  clothing  were 
hanging  out  to  dry.  It  was,  in  short,  the  poor  quarter  of  a 
country  town,  to  which  the  near  neighborhood  of  the  water,  a 
weeping  willow  drooping  over  the  bank,  a  rosebush  or  so,  and 
a  few  flowers  had  lent  an  indescribable  charm,  worthy  of  a 
landscape  painter's  brush. 

The  chevalier  meanwhile  was  narrowly  watching  the  faces 
of  the  guests.  He  knew  that  his  firebrand  had  very  success- 
fully taken  hold  of  the  best  coteries  in  the  town ;  but  no  one 
spoke  openly  of  Suzanne  and  du  Bousquier  and  the  great  news 
as  yet.  The  art  of  distilling  scandal  is  possessed  by  provin- 
cials in  a  supreme  degree.  It  was  felt  that  the  time  was  not 
yet  ripe  for  open  discussion  of  the  strange  event,  Every  one 


80  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

was  bound  to  go  through  a  private  rehearsal  first.     So  it  was 
whispered — 

"  Have  you  heard  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"DuBousquier?" 

"And  the  fair  Suzanne." 

" Does  Mademoiselle  Cormon  know  anything? " 

"No." 

"Ah!" 

This  was  gossip  piano,  presently  destined  to  swell  into  a 
crescendo  when  they  were  ready  to  discuss  the  first  dish  of 
scandal. 

All  of  a  sudden  the  chevalier  confronted  Mme.  Granson. 
That  lady  had  sported  her  green  bonnet,  trimmed  with  au- 
riculas ;  her  face  was  beaming.  Was  she  simply  longing  to 
begin  the  concert  ?  Such  news  is  as  good  as  a  gold-mine  to  be 
worked  in  the  monotonous  lives  of  these  people ;  but  the  ob- 
servant and  uneasy  chevalier  fancied  that  he  read  something 
more  in  the  good  lady's  expression — to  wit,  the  exultation  of 
self-interest !  At  once  he  turned  to  look  at  Athanase,  and 
detected  in  his  silence  the  signs  of  profound  concentration  of 
some  kind.  In  another  moment  the  young  man's  glance  at 
Mile.  Cormon's  figure,  which  sufficiently  resembled  a  pair  of 
regimental  kettledrums,  shot  a  sudden  light  across  the  cheva- 
lier's brain.  By  that  gleam  he  could  read  the  whole  past. 

"Egad  !  "  he  said  to  himself,  "  what  a  slap  in  the  face  I 
have  laid  myself  out  to  get !  " 

He  went  across  to  offer  his  arm  to  Mile.  Cormon,  so  that 
he  might  afterward  take  her  in  to  dinner.  She  regarded  the 
chevalier  with  respectful  esteem  ;  for,  in  truth,  with  his  name 
and  position  in  the  aristocratic  constellations  of  the  province, 
he  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  ornaments  of  her  salon.  In 
her  heart  of  hearts,  she  had  longed  to  be  Mme.  de  Valois  at 
any  time  during  the  past  twelve  years.  The  name  was  like  a 
branch  for  the  swarming  thoughts  of  her  brain  to  cling  about 


AT    ONCE    HE    TURNED    TO    LOOK    AT    ATHANASE. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          81 

— he  fulfilled  all  her  ideals  as  to  the  birth,  quality,  and  exter- 
nals of  an  eligible  man.  But  while  the  Chevalier  de  Valois 
was  the  choice  of  heart  and  brain  and  social  ambition,  the 
elderly  ruin,  curled  though  he  was  like  a  St.  John  of  a  pro- 
cession-day, filled  Mile.  Cormon  with  dismay ;  the  heiress  saw 
nothing  but  the  noble ;  the  woman  could  not  think  of  him  as 
a  husband.  The  chevalier's  affectation  of  indifference  to  mar- 
riage, and  still  more  his  unimpeachable  character  in  a  houseful 
of  workgirls,  had  seriously  injured  him,  contrary  to  his  own 
expectations.  The  man  of  quality,  so  clear-sighted  in  the 
matter  of  the  annuity,  miscalculated  on  this  subject ;  and  Mile. 
Cormon  herself  was  not  aware  that  her  private  reflections  upon 
the  too  well-conducted  chevalier  might  have  been  translated 
by  the  remark:  "What  a  pity  that  he  is  not  a  little  bit  of  a 
rake  !  " 

Students  of  human  nature  have  remarked  these  leanings  of 
the  saint  toward  the  sinner,  and  wondered  at  a  taste  so  little 
in  accordance,  as  they  imagine,  with  Christian  virtue.  But, 
to  go  no  further,  what  nobler  destiny  for  a  virtuous  woman 
than  the  task  of  cleansing,  after  the  manner  of  charcoal,  the 
turbid  waters  of  vice  ?  How  is  it  that  nobody  has  seen  that 
these  generous  creatures,  confined  by  their  principles  to  strict 
conjugal  fidelity,  must  naturally  desire  a  mate  of  great  practical 
experience?  A  reformed  rake  makes  the  best  husband.  And 
so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  poor  spinster  must  sigh  over  the 
chosen  vessel,  offered  her  as  it  were  in  two  pieces.  Heaven 
alone  could  weld  the  Chevalier  du  Valois  and  du  Bousquier 
in  one. 

If  the  significance  of  the  few  words  exchanged  between  the 
chevalier  and  Mile.  Cormon  is  to  be  properly  understood,  it 
is  necessary  to  put  other  matters  before  the  reader.  Two  very 
serious  questions  were  dividing  Alencon  into  two  camps,  and, 
moreover,  du  Bousquier  was  mixed  up  in  both  affairs  in  some 
mysterious  way.  The  first  of  these  debates  concerned  the 
cur6.  He  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  in  the  time  of  the 
6 


82  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Revolution,  and  now  was  living  down  orthodox  prejudices 
by  setting  an  example  of  the  loftiest  goodness.  He  was  a 
Cheverus  on  a  smaller  scale,  and  so  much  was  he  appreciated, 
that  when  he  died  the  whole  town  wept  for  him.  Mile.  Cor- 
mon  and  the  Abbe  de  Sponde  belonged,  however,  to  the 
minority,  to  the  church  sublime  in  its  orthodoxy,  a  section 
which  was  to  the  Court  of  Rome  as  the  Ultras  were  shortly  to 
be  to  the  Court  of  Louis  XVIII.  The  abbe,  in  particular, 
declined  to  recognize  the  church  that  had  submitted  to  force 
and  made  terms  with  the  Constitutionnels.  So  the  cure  was 
never  seen  in  the  salon  of  the  Maison  Cormon,  and  the  sym- 
pathies of  its  frequenters  were  with  the  officiating  priest  of 
St.  Leonard's,  the  aristocratic  church  in  Alen9on.  Du  Bous- 
quier,  that  rabid  Liberal  under  a  Royalist's  skin,  knew  how 
necessary  it  is  to  find  standards  to  rally  the  discontented,  who 
form,  as  it  were,  the  back-shop  of  every  opposition,  and  there- 
fore he  had  already  enlisted  the  sympathies  of  the  trading 
classes  for  the  cure. 

Now  for  the  second  affair.  The  same  blunt  diplomatist  was 
the  secret  instigator  of  a  scheme  for  building  a  theatre,  an 
idea  which  had  only  lately  sprouted  in  Alencon.  Du  Bous- 
quier's  zealots  knew  not  their  Mahomet,  but  they  were  the 
more  ardent  in  their  defense  of  what  they  believed  to  be  their 
own  plan.  Athanase  was  one  of  the  very  hottest  of  the  parti- 
sans in  favor  of  the  theatre  ;  in  the  mayor's  office  for  several 
days  past  he  had  been  pleading  for  the  cause  which  all  the 
younger  men  had  taken  up. 

To  return  to  the  chevalier.  He  offered  his  arm  to  Mile. 
Cormon,  who  thanked  him  with  a  radiant  glance  for  this 
attention.  For  all  answer,  the  chevalier  indicated  Athanase 
by  a  meaning  look. 

"Mademoiselle,"  he  began,  "as  you  have  such  well- 
balanced  judgment  in  matters  of  social  convention,  and  as 
that  young  man  is  related  to  you  in  some  way " 

"Very  distantly,"  she  broke  in. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          83 

"Ought  you  not  to  use  the  influence  which  you  possess 
with  him  and  his  mother  to  prevent  him  from  going  utterly 
to  the  bad?  He  is  not  very  religious  as  it  is;  he  defends 
that  perjured  priest ;  but  that  is  nothing.  It  is  a  much  more 
serious  matter;  is  he  not  plunging  thoughtlessly  into  opposi- 
tion without  realizing  how  his  conduct  may  affect  his  pros- 
pects ?  He  is  scheming  to  build  this  theatre  ;  he  is  the  dupe 
of  that  Republican  in  disguise,  du  Bousquier " 

"  Dear  me,  Monsieur  de  Valois,  his  mother  tells  me  that  he 
is  so  clever,  and  he  has  not  a  word  to  say  for  himself ;  he  al- 
ways stands  planted  before  you  like  a  'statute  ' " 

"Of  limitations,"  cried  the  registrar.  "I  caught  that  fly- 
ing. I  present  my  devoars  to  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,"  he 
added,  saluting  the  latter  with  the  exaggeration  of  Henri 
Monnier  as  "Joseph  Prudhomme,"  an  admirable  type  of  the 
class  to  which  M.  du  Coudrai  belonged. 

M.  de  Valois,  in  return,  gave  him  the  abbreviated  patroniz- 
ing nod  of  a  noble  standing  on  his  dignity ;  then  he  drew 
Mile.  Cormon  farther  along  the  terrace  by  the  distance  of 
several  flower-pots,  to  make  the  registrar  understand  that  he 
did  not  wish  to  be  overheard. 

Then,  lowering  his  voice,  he  bent  to  say  in  Mile.  Cormon's 
ear:  "How  can  you  expect  that  lads  educated  in  these  de- 
testable Imperial  Lyceums  should  have  any  ideas?  Great 
ideas  and  a  lofty  love  can  only  come  of  right  courses  and 
nobleness  of  life.  It  is  not  difficult  to  foresee,  from  the  look 
of  the  poor  fellow,  that  he  will  be  weak  in  his  intellect  and 
come  to  a  miserable  end.  See  how  pale  and  haggard  he 
looks!" 

"  His  mother  says  that  he  works  far  too  hard,"  she  replied 
innocently.  "  He  spends  his  nights,  think  of  it !  in  reading 
books  and  writing.  What  good  can  it  possibly  do  a  young 
man's  prospects  to  sit  up  writing  at  night?  " 

"  Why,  it  exhausts  him,"  said  the  chevalier,  trying  to  bring 
the  lady's  thoughts  back  to  the  point,  which  was  to  disgust 


84  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

her  with  Athanase.  "The  things  that  went  on  in  those 
Imperial  Lyceums  were  something  really  shocking." 

"Oh  yes,"  said  the  simple  lady.  "Did  they  not  make 
them  walk  out  with  drums  in  front?  The  masters  had  no 
more  religion  than  heathens;  and  they  put  them  in  uniform, 
poor  boys,  exactly  as  if  they  had  been  soldiers.  What 
notions !  " 

"And  see  what  comes  of  it,"  continued  the  chevalier, 
indicating  Athanase.  "In  my  time,  where  was  the  young 
man  that  could  not  look  a  pretty  woman  in  the  face  ?  Now, 
he  lowers  his  eyes  as  soon  as  he  sees  you.  That  young  man 
alarms  me,  because  I  am  interested  in  him.  Tell  him  not  to 
intrigue  with  Bonapartists,  as  he  is  doing,  to  build  this  the- 
atre ;  if  these  little  youngsters  do  not  raise  an  insurrection  and 
demand  it  (for  insurrection  and  constitution,  to  my  mind, 
are  two  words  for  the  same  thing),  the  authorities  will  build 
it.  "And  tell  his  mother  to  look  after  him." 

"  Oh,  she  will  not  allow  him  to  see  these  half-pay  people  or 
to  keep  low  company,  I  am  sure.  I  will  speak  to  him  about 
it,"  said  Mile.  Cormon ;  "he  might  lose  his  situation  at  the 
mayor's  office.  And  then  what  would  they  do,  he  and  his 
mother?  It  makes  one  shudder." 

As  M.  de  Talleyrand  said  of  his  wife,  so  said  the  chevalier 
within  himself  at  that  moment,  as  he  looked  at  the  lady — 

"If  there  is  a  stupider  woman,  I  should  like  to  see  her. 
On  the  honor  of  a  gentleman,  if  virtue  makes  a  woman  so 
stupid  as  this,  is  it  not  a  vice  ?  And  yet,  what  an  adorable 
wife  she  would  make  for  a  man  of  my  age  !  What  principle  ! 
What  ignorance  of  life  " 

Please  to  bear  in  mind  that  these  remarks  were  addressed  to 
the  Princess  Goritza  during  the  manipulation  of  a  pinch  of 
snuff. 

Mme.  Granson  felt  instinctively  that  the  chevalier  was 
talking  of  Athanase.  In  her  eagerness  to  know  what  he  had 
been  saying,  she  followed  Mile.  Cormon,  who  walked  up  to 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          85 

the  young  man  in  question,  putting  out  six  feet  of  dignity  in 
front ;  but  at  that  very  moment  Jacquelin  announced  that 
"Mademoiselle  was  served,"  and  the  mistress  of  the  house 
shot  an  appealing  glance  at  the  chevalier.  But  the  gallant 
registrar  of  mortgages  was  beginning  to  see  a  something  in 
M.  de  Valois'  manner,  a  glimpse  of  the  barrier  which  the 
noblesse  were  about  to  raise  between  themselves  and  the 
bourgeoisie ;  so,  delighted  with  a  chance  to  cut  out  the  cheva- 
lier, he  crooked  his  arm,  and  Mile.  Cormon  was  obliged  to 
take  it.  M.  de  Valois,  from  motives  of  policy,  fastened  upon 
Mme.  Granson. 

"  Mademoiselle  Cormon  takes  the  liveliest  interest  in  your 
dear  Athanase,  my  dear  lady,"  he  said,  as  they  slowly  followed 
in  the  wake  of  the  other  guests,  "but  that  interest  is  falling 
off  through  your  son's  fault.  He  is  lax  and  Liberal  in  his 
opinions  ;  he  is  agitating  for  this  theatre ;  he  is  mixed  up  with 
the  Bonapartists ;  he  takes  the  part  of  the  Constitutionnel 
cure.  This  line  of  conduct  may  cost  him  his  situation.  You 
know  how  carefully  his  majesty's  government  is  weeding  the 
service.  If  your  dear  Athanase  is  once  cashiered,  where  will 
he  find  employment  ?  He  must  not  get  into  bad  odor  with 
the  authorities." 

"Oh,  Monsieur  le  Chevalier,"  cried  the  poor  startled 
mother,  "  what  do  I  not  owe  you  for  telling  me  this !  You 
are  right ;  my  boy  is  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  a  bad  set ;  I  will 
open  his  eyes  to  his  position." 

It  was  long  since  the  chevalier  had  sounded  Athanase's 
character  at  a  glance.  He  saw  in  the  depths  of  the  young 
man's  nature  the  scarcely  malleable  material  of  Republican 
convictions ;  a  lad  at  that  age  will  sacrifice  everything  for 
such  ideas  if  he  is  smitten  with  the  word  Liberty,  that  so 
vague,  so  little  comprehended  word  which  is  like  a  standard 
of  revolt  for  those  at  the  bottom  of  the  wheel  for  whom  revolt 
means  revenge.  Athanase  was  sure  to  stick  to  his  opinions, 
for  he  had  woven  them,  with  his  artist's  sorrows  and  his  em- 


86  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

bittered  views  of  the  social  framework,  into  his  political 
creed.  He  was  ready  to  sacrifice  his  future  at  the  outset  for 
these  opinions,  not  knowing  that  he,  like  all  men  of  real 
ability,  would  have  seen  reason  to  modify  them  by  the  time 
he  reached  the  age  of  six-and-thirty,  when  a  man  has  formed 
his  own  conclusions  of  life,  with  its  intricate  relations  and 
interdependences.  If  Athanase  was  faithful  to  the  opposition 
in  Alencon,  he  would  fall  into  disgrace  with  Mile.  Cormon. 
Thus  far  the  chevalier  saw  clearly. 

And  so  this  little  town,  so  peaceful  in  appearance,  was  to 
the  full  as  much  agitated  internally  as  any  congress  of  diplo- 
mates,  when  craft  and  guile  and  passion  and  self-interest  are 
met  to  discuss  the  weightiest  questions  between  empire  and 
empire. 

Meanwhile  the  guests  gathered  about  the  table  were  eating 
their  way  through  the  first  course  as  people  eat  in  the  pro- 
vinces, without  a  blush  for  an  honest  appetite;  whereas,  in 
Paris,  it  would  appear  that  our  jaws  are  controlled  by  sump- 
tuary edicts  which  deliberately  set  the  laws  of  anatomy  at 
defiance.  We  eat  with  the  tips  of  our  teeth  in  Paris,  we 
filch  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  but  in  the  provinces  things 
are  taken  more  naturally;  possibly  existence  centres  a  little 
too  much  about  the  great  and  universal  method  of  mainten- 
ance to  which  God  condemns  all  His  creatures.  It  was  at 
the  end  of  the  first  course  that  Mile.  Cormon  brought  out  the 
most  celebrated  of  all  her  conversational  cues  ;  it  was  talked  of 
for  two  years  afterward ;  it  is  quoted  even  now,  indeed,  in 
the  lower  bourgeois  strata  of  Alencon  whenever  her  marriage 
is  under  discussion.  Over  the  last  entree  but  one,  the  con- 
versation waxed  lively  and  wordy,  turning,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  upon  the  affair  of  the  theatre  and  the  cure. 
In  the  first  enthusiasm  of  royalism  in  1816,  those  extremists, 
who  were  afterward  called  les  jesuites  du  pays,  or  country 
Jesuits,  were  for  expelling  the  Abbe  Francois  from  his  cure. 
M.  de  Valois  suspected  du  Bousquier  of  supporting  the  priest 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          87 

and  instigating  the  intrigues ;  at  any  rate,  the  noble  chevalier 
piled  the  burdens  on  du  Bousquier's  back  with  his  wonted 
skill ;  and  du  Bousquier,  being  unrepresented  by  counsel,  was 
condemned  and  put  in  the  pillory.  Among  those  present, 
Athanase  was  the  only  person  sufficiently  frank  to  stand  up  for 
the  absent,  and  he  felt  that  he  was  not  in  a  position  to  bring  out 
his  ideas  before  these  Alengon  magnates,  of  whose  intellects 
he  had  the  meanest  opinion.  Only  in  the  provinces  nowa- 
days will  you  find  young  men  keeping  a  respectful  counte- 
nance before  people  of  a  certain  age  without  daring  to  have  a 
a  fling  at  their  elders  or  to  contradict  them  too  flatly.  To 
resume :  On  the  advent  of  some  delicious  canards  aux  olives, 
the  conversation  first  decidedly  flagged,  and  then  suddenly 
dropped  dead.  Mile.  Cormon,  emulous  of  her  own  poultry, 
invented  another  canard  in  her  anxiety  to  defend  du  Bous- 
quier, who  had  been  represented  as  an  arch-concoctor  of 
intrigue,  and  a  man  to  set  mountains  fighting. 

"  For  my  own  part,"  said  she,  "I  thought  that  Monsieur 
du  Bousquier  gave  his  whole  attention  to  childish  matters." 

Under  the  circumstances,  the  epigram  produced  a  tremen- 
dous effect.  Mile.  Cormon  had  a  great  success  ;  she  brought 
the  Princess  Goritza  face  downward  on  the  table.  The  cheva- 
lier, by  no  means  expecting  his  Dulcinea  to  say  anything  so 
much  to  the  purpose,  could  find  no  words  to  express  his  ad- 
miration ;  he  applauded  after  the  Italian  fashion,  noiselessly, 
with  the  tips  of  his  fingers. 

"  She  is  adorably  witty,"  he  said,  turning  to  Mme.  Granson. 
"  I  have  always  said  that  she  would  unmask  her  batteries  some 
day." 

"But  when  you  know  her  very  well,  she  is  charming," 
said  the  widow. 

"All  women,  madame,  have  esprit  when  you  know  them 
well." 

When  the  Homeric  laughter  subsided,  Mile.  Cormon  asked 
for  an  explanation  of  her  success.  Then  the  chorus  of  scandal 


88  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

grew  to  a  height.  Du  Bousquier  was  transformed  into  a 
bachelor  Father  Gigogne ;  it  was  he  who  filled  fhe  Foundling 
Hospital;  the  immorality  of  his  life  was  laid  bare  at  last;  it 
was  all  of  a  piece  with  his  Paris  orgies,  and  so  forth  and  so 
forth.  Led  by  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  the  cleverest  of  con- 
ductors of  this  kind  of  orchestra,  the  overture  was  something 
magnificent. 

"I  do  not  know,"  said  he,  with  much  indulgence,  "what 
there  could  possibly  be  to  prevent  a  du  Bousquier  from  marry- 
ing Mademoiselle  Suzanne  whatever-it-is,  what  do  you  call 
her  ?  Suzette  !  I  only  know  the  children  by  sight,  though  I 
lodge  with  Mme.  Lardot.  If  this  Suzon  is  a  tall,  fine-looking 
forward  sort  of  girl  with  gray  eyes,  a  slender  figure,  and  little 
feet — I  have  not  paid  much  attention  to  these  things,  but  she 
seemed  to  me  to  be  very  insolent  and  very  much  du  Bous- 
quier's  superior  in  the  matter  of  manners.  Beside,  Suzanne 
has  the  nobility  of  beauty ;  from  that  point  of  view,  she  would 
certainly  make  a  marriage  beneath  her.  The  Emperor  Joseph, 
you  know,  had  the  curiosity  to  go  to  see  the  du  Barry  at  Lu- 
ciennes.  He  offered  her  his  arm ;  and  when  the  poor  cour- 
tesan, overcome  by  such  an  honor,  hesitated  to  take  it : '  Beauty 
is  always  a  queen,'  said  the  Emperor.  Remark  that  the  Em- 
peror Joseph  was  an  Austrian  German,"  added  the  chevalier; 
"but,  believe  me,  that  Germany,  which  we  think  of  as  a  very 
boorish  country,  is  really  a  land  of  noble  chivalry  and  fine 
manners,  especially  toward  Poland  and  Hungary,  where  there 

are "  Here  the  chevalier  broke  off,  fearing  to  make  an 

allusion  to  his  own  happy  fortune  in  the  past ;  he  only  took 
up  his  snuff-box  and  confided  the  rest  to  the  princess  who  had 
smiled  on  him  for  thirty-six  years. 

"The  speech  was  delicately  considerate  for  Louis  XV.," 
said  du  Ronceret. 

"But  we  are  talking  of  the  Emperor  Joseph,  I  believe," 
returned  Mile.  Cormon,  with  a  knowing  little  air. 

"Mademoiselle,"   said   the   chevalier,   seeing   the   wicked 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          89 

glances  exchanged  by  the  president,  the  registrar,  and  the 
notary,  "  Madame  du  Barry  was  Louis  Quinze's  Suzanne,  a 
fact  known  well  enough  to  us  scapegraces,  but  which  young 
ladies  are  not  expected  to  know.  Your  ignorance  shows  that 
the  diamond  is  flawless.  The  corruptions  of  history  have  not 
so  much  as  touched  you." 

At  this  the  Abbe  de  Sponde  looked  graciously  upon  M.  de 
Valois  and  bent  his  head  in  laudatory  approval. 

"Do  you  not  know  history,  mademoiselle?"  asked  the 
registrar. 

"  If  you  muddle  up  Louis  XV.  and  Suzanne,  how  can  you 
expect  me  to  know  your  history?  "  was  Mile.  Cormon's  angelic 
reply.  She  was  so  pleased  !  The  dish  was  empty  and  the 
conversation  revived  to  such  purpose  that  everybody  was 
laughing  with  their  mouths  full  at  her  last  simple  but  ingenu- 
ous observation. 

"  Poor  young  thing  !  "  said  the  Abbe  de  Sponde.  "  When 
once  trouble  comes,  that  love  divine  called  charity  is  as  blind 
as  the  pagan  love,  and  should  see  nothing  of  the  causes  of  the 
trouble.  You  are  president  of  the  Maternity  Society,  Rose  ; 
this  child  will  need  help  ;  it  will  not  be  easy  for  her  to  find  a 
husband." 

"  Poor  child  !  "  said  Mile.  Cormon. 

"Is  du  Bousquier  going  to  marry  her,  do  you  suppose?" 
asked  the  president  of  the  Tribunal. 

"  It  would  be  his  duty  to  do  so  if  he  were  a  decent  man," 
said  Mme.  Granson  ;  "  but,  really,  my  dog  has  better  notions 
of  decency " 

"And  yet  Azor  is  a  great  forager,"  put  in  the  registrar, 
trying  a  joke  this  time  as  a  change  from  a  pun. 

They  were  still  talking  of  du  Bousquier  over  the  dessert. 
He  was  the  butt  of  uncounted  playful  jests,  which  grew  more 
and  more  thunder-charged  under  the  influence  of  wine.  Led 
off"  by  the  registrar,  they  followed  up  one  pun  with  another. 
Du  Bousquier's  character  was  now  ap-parent;  he  was  not  a 


00  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

father  of  the  church,  nor  a  reverend  father,  nor  yet  a  con- 
script father,  and  so  on  and  so  on,  till  the  Abbe  de  Sponde 
said :  "  In  any  case,  he  is  not  a  foster-father,"  with  a  gravity 
that  checked  the  laughter. 

"  Nor  a  heavy  father,"  added  the  chevalier. 

The  church  and  the  aristocracy  had  descended  into  the 
arena  of  word-play  without  loss  of  dignity. 

"Hush!"  said  the  registrar,  "I  can  hear  du  Bousquier's 
boots  creaking  ;  he  is  in  over  shoes  over  boots,  and  no  mis- 
take." 

It  nearly  always  happens  that  when  a  man's  name  is  in 
every  one's  mouth,  he  is  the  last  to  hear  what  is  said  of  him  ; 
the  whole  town  may  be  talking  of  him,  slandering  him  or 
crying  him  down,  and  if  he  has  no  friends  to  repeat  what 
other  people  say  of  him,  he  is  not  likely  to  hear  it.  So  the 
blameless  du  Bousquier,  du  Bousquier  who  would  fain  have 
been  guilty,  who  wished  that  Suzanne  had  not  lied  to  him, 
was  supremely  unconscious  of  all  that  was  taking  place.  No- 
body had  spoken  to  him  of  Suzanne's  revelations;  for  that 
matter,  everybody  thought  it  indiscreet  to  ask  questions  about 
the  affair,  when  the  man  most  concerned  sometimes  possesses 
secrets  which  compel  him  to  keep  silence.  So  when  the  people 
adjourned  for  coffee  to  the  drawing-room,  where  several  even- 
ing visitors  were  already  assembled,  du  Bousquier  wore  an 
irresistible  and  slightly  fatuous  air. 

Mile.  Cormon,  counseled  by  confusion,  dared  not  look 
toward  the  terrible  seducer.  She  took  possession  of  Athanase 
and  administered  a  lecture,  bringing  out  the  oddest  assort- 
ment of  the  commonplaces  of  Royalist  doctrines  and  edifying 
truisms.  As  the  unlucky  poet  had  no  snuff-box  with  a  portrait 
of  a  princess  on  the  lid  to  sustain  him  under  the  shower-bath 
of  foolish  utterances,  it  was  with  a  vacant  expression  that  he 
heard  his  adored  lady.  His  eyes  were  fixed  on  that  enormous 
bust,  which  maintained  the  absolute  repose  characteristic  of 
great  masses.  Desire  wrought  a  kind  of  intoxication  in  him. 


THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          91 

The  old  maid's  thin,  shrill  voice  became  low  music  for  his 
ears ;  her  platitudes  were  fraught  with  ideas. 

Love  is  an  utterer  of  false  coin ;  he  is  always  at  work  trans- 
forming common  copper  into  gold  louis ;  sometimes,  also,  he 
makes  his  seeming  douzains*  of  fine  gold. 

"  Well,  Athanase,  will  you  promise  me  ?" 

The  final  phrase  struck  on  the  young  man's  ear ;  he  woke 
with  a  start  from  a  blissful  dream. 

"What,  mademoiselle?"   returned  he. 

Mile.  Cormon  rose  abruptly  and  glanced  across  at  du  Bous- 
quier.  At  that  moment  he  looked  like  the  brawny  fabulous 
deity,  whose  likeness  you  behold  upon  Republican  three-franc 
pieces.  She  went  over  to  Mme.  Granson  and  said  in  a  confi- 
dential tone : 

"  Your  son  is  weak  in  his  intellect,  my  poor  friend.  That 
lyceum  has  been  the  ruin  of  him,"  she  added,  recollecting 
how  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  had  insisted  on  the  bad  educa- 
tion given  in  those  institutions. 

Here  was  a  thunderbolt  !  Poor  Athanase  had  had  his 
chance  of  flinging  fire  upon  the  dried  stems  heaped  up  in 
the  old  maid's  heart,  and  he  had  not  known  it !  If  he  had 
but  listened  to  her,  he  might  have  made  her  understand ;  for 
in  Mile.  Cormon's  present  highly  wrought  mood  a  word  would 
have  been  enough,  but  the  very  force  of  the  stupefying  crav- 
ings of  love-sick  youth  had  spoiled  his  chances ;  so  sometimes 
a  child  full  of  life  kills  himself  through  ignorance. 

"What  can  you  have  been  saying  to  Mademoiselle  Cor- 
mon ?  "  asked  his  mother. 

"Nothing." 

"Nothing?  I  will  have  this  cleared  up,"  she  said,  and 
put  off  serious  business  to  the  morrow;  du  Bousquier  was 
hopelessly  lost,  she  thought,  and  the  speeck  troubled  her  very 
little. 

Soon  the  four  card-tables  received  their  complement  of 
*  Old  French  sou. 


92  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

players.  Four  persons  sat  down  to  piquet,  the  most  expensive 
amusement  of  the  evening,  over  which  a  good  deal  of  money 
changed  hands.  M.  Choisnel,  the  attorney  for  the  crown, 
and  a  couple  of  ladies  went  to  the  red-lacquered  cabinet  for  a 
game  of  tric-trac.  The  candles  in  the  wall-sconces  were 
lighted,  and  then  the  flower  of  Mile.  Cormon's  set  blossomed 
out  about  the  fire,  on  the  settees,  and  about  the  tables.  Each 
new  couple,  on  entering  the  room,  made  the  same  remark  to 
Mile.  Cormon :  "So  you  are  going  to  the  Prebaudet  to- 
morrow? " 

"Yes,  I  really  must,"  she  said,  in  answer  to  each. 

All  through  the  evening  the  hostess  wore  a  preoccupied  air. 
Mme.  Granson  was  the  first  to  see  that  she  was  not  at  all  like 
herself.  Mile.  Cormon  was  thinking. 

"What  are  you  thinking  about,  cousin?"  Mme.  Granson 
asked  at  last,  finding  her  sitting  in  the  boudoir. 

"  I  am  thinking  of  that  poor  girl.  Am  I  not  patroness  of 
the  Maternity  Society?  I  will  go  now  to  find  ten  crowns  for 
you." 

"Ten  crowns!"  exclaimed  Mme.  Granson.  "  Why,  you 
have  never  given  so  much  to  any  one  before !  " 

"  But,  my  dear,  it  is  so  natural  to  have  a  child." 

This  improper  cry  from  the  heart  struck  the  treasurer  of  the 
Maternity  Society  dumb  from  sheer  astonishment.  Du  Bous- 
quier  had  actually  gone  up  in  Mile.  Cormon's  opinion  ! 

"Really,"  began  Mme.  Granson,  "du  Bousquier  is  not 
merely  a  monster — he  is  a  villain  into  the  bargain.  When  a 
man  has  spoiled  somebody  else's  life,  it  is  his  duty  surely  to 
make  amends.  It  should  be  his  part  rather  than  ours  to 
rescue  this  young  person ;  and  when  all  comes  to  all,  she  is  a 
bad  girl,  it  seems  to  me,  for  there  are  better  men  in  Alencon 
than  that  cynic  of  a  du  Bousquier.  A  girl  must  be  shameless 
indeed  to  have  anything  to  do  with  him." 

"Cynic?  Your  son,  dear,  teaches  you  Latin  words  that 
are  quite  beyond  me.  Certainly  I  do  not  want  to  make  ex- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          93 

cuses  for  Monsieur  du  Bousquier ;  but  explain  to  me  why  it  is 
immoral  for  a  woman  to  prefer  one  man  to  another?" 

"  Dear  cousin,  suppose  now  that  you  were  to  marry  my 
Athanase ;  there  would  be  nothing  but  what  was  very  natural 
in  that.  He  is  young  and  good-looking ;  he  has  a  future  be- 
fore him ;  Alencon  will  be  proud  of  him  some  day.  But — 
every  one  would  think  that  you  took  such  a  young  man  as 
your  husband  for  the  sake  of  greater  conjugal  felicity.  Slan- 
derous tongues  would  say  that  you  were  making  a  sufficient 
provision  of  bliss  for  yourself.  There  would  be  jealous  women 
to  bring  charges  of  depravity  against  you.  But  what  would 
it  matter  to  you?  You  would  be  dearly  loved — loved  sin- 
cerely. If  Athanase  seemed  to  you  to  be  weak  of  intellect, 
my  dear,  it  is  because  he  has  too  many  ideas.  Extremes 
meet.  He  is  as  clean  in  his  life  as  a  girl  of  fifteen  ;  he  has  not 
wallowed  in  the  pollutions  of  Paris.  Well,  now,  change  the 
terms,  as  my  poor  husband  used  to  say.  It  is  relatively  just 
the  same  situation  as  du  Bousquier's  and  Suzanne's.  But 
what  would  be  slander  in  your  case  is  true  in  every  way  of  du 
Bousquier.  Now  do  you  understand  ?  " 

"No  more  than  if  you  were  talking  Greek,"  said  Rose 
Cormon,  opening  wide  eyes  and  exerting  all  the  powers  of  her 
understanding. 

"  Well,  then,  cousin,  since  one  must  put  dots  on  all  the  *"'s, 
it  is  quite  out  of  the  question  that  Suzanne  should  love  du 
Bousquier.  And  when  the  heart  counts  for  nothing  in  such 
an  affair " 

"Why,  really,  cousin,  how  should  people  love  if  not  with 
their  hearts?" 

At  this  Mme.  Granson  thought  within  herself,  as  the  cheva- 
lier had  thought — 

"The  poor  cousin  is  too  innocent  by  far.  This  goes  be- 
yond the  permissible—  Aloud  she  said  :  "  Dear  girl,  it 
seems  to  me  that  a  child  is  not  conceived  of  spirit  alone." 

"Why,  yes,  dear,  for  the  Holy  Virgin " 


94  THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

"But,  my  dear,  good  girl,  du  Bouequier  is  not  the  Holy 
Ghost." 

"That  is  true,"  returned  the  spinster;  "he  is  a  man — a 
man  dangerous  enough  for  his  friends  to  recommend  him 
strongly  to  marry." 

"You,  cousin,  might  bring  that  about " 

"Oh,  how?"  cried  the  spinster,  with  a  glow  of  Christian 
charity. 

"  Decline  to  receive  him  until  he  takes  a  wife.  For  the 
sake  of  religion  and  morality,  you  ought  to  make  an  example 
of  him  under  the  circumstances." 

"  We  will  talk  of  this  again,  dear  Madame  Granson,  when  I 
come  back  from  the  Prebaudet.  I  will  ask  advice  of  my  uncle 
and  the  Abbe  Couturier,"  and  Mile.  Cormon  went  back  to 
the  large  drawing-room.  The  liveliest  hour  of  the  evening 
had  begun. 

The  lights,  the  groups  of  well-dressed  women,  the  serious 
and  magisterial  air  of  the  assembly,  filled  Mile.  Cormon  with 
pride  in  the  aristocratic  appearance  of  the  rooms,  a  pride  in 
which  her  guests  all  shared.  There  were  plenty  of  people 
who  thought  that  the  finest  company  of  Paris  itself  was  no 
finer.  At  that  moment  du  Bousquier,  playing  a  rubber  with 
M.  de  Valois  and  two  elderly  ladies,  Mme.  du  Coudrai  and 
Mme.  du  Ronceret,  was  the  object  of  suppressed  curiosity. 
Several  women  came  up  on  the  pretext  of  watching  the  game, 
and  gave  him  such  odd,  albeit  furtive,  glances  that  the  old 
bachelor  at  last  began  to  think  that  there  must  be  something 
amiss  with  his  appearance. 

"Can  it  be  that  my  toupet  is  askew?"  he  asked  himself. 
And  he  felt  that  all-absorbing  uneasiness  to  which  the  elderly 
bachelor  is  peculiarly  subject.  A  blunder  gave  him  an  excuse 
for  leaving  the  table  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  rubber. 

"I  cannot  touch  a  card  but  I  lose,"  he  said;  "I  am  de- 
cidedly too  unlucky  at  cards." 

"You  are  lucky  in  other  respects,"  said  the  chevalier,  with 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.          95 

a  knowing  look.  Naturally,  the  joke  made  the  round  of  the 
room,  and  every  one  exclaimed  over  the  exquisite  breeding 
shown  by  the  Prince  Talleyrand  of  Alengon. 

"  There  is  no  one  like  Monsieur  de  Valois  for  saying  such 
things,"  said  the  niece  of  the  cure  of  St.  Leonacd's. 

Du  Bousquier  went  up  to  the  narrow  mirror  above  The 
Deserter,  but  he  could  detect  nothing  unusual. 

Toward  ten  o'clock,  after  innumerable  repetitions  of  the 
same  phrase  with  every  possible  variation,  the  long  ante- 
chamber began  to  fill  with  visitors  preparing  to  embark;  Mile. 
Cormon  convoying  a  few  favored  guests  as  far  as  the  steps  for 
a  farewell  embrace.  Knots  of  guests  took  their  departure, 
some  in  the  direction  of  the  Brittany  road  and  the  chateau, 
and  others  turning  toward  the  quarter  by  the  Sarthe.  And 
then  began  the  exchange  of  remarks  with  which  the  streets 
had  echoed  at  the  same  hour  for  a  score  of  years.  There  was 
the  inevitable  :  "  Mademoiselle  Cormon  looked  very  well  this 
evening." 

"  Mademoiselle  Cormon  ?     She  looked  strange,  I  thought." 

"How  the  abbe  stoops,  poor  man  !  And  how  he  goes  to 
sleep — did  you  see  ?  He  never  knows  where  the  cards  are 
now;  his  mind  wanders." 

"  We  shall  be  very  sorry  to  lose  him." 

"It  is  a  fine  night.     We  shall  have  a  fine  day  to-morrow." 

"  Fine  weather  for  the  apples  to  set." 

"You  beat  us  to-night;  you  always  do  when  Monsieur  de 
Valois  is  your  partner." 

"  Then  how  much  did  he  win? " 

"  To-night  ?  Why,  he  won  three  or  four  francs.  He  never 
loses. ' ' 

"  Faith,  no.  There  are  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days 
in  the  year,  you  know ;  at  that  rate,  whist  is  as  good  as  a  farm 
for  him." 

"  Oh  !  what  bad  luck  we  had  to-night !  " 

' '  You  are  very  fortunate,  monsieur  and  madame,  here  you 


96  THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

are  at  your  own  doorstep,  while  we  have  half  the  town  to 
cross." 

"I  do  not  pity  you;  you  could  keep  a  gig  if  you  liked, 
you  need  not  go  afoot." 

"  Ah  !  monsieur,  we  have  a  daughter  to  marry  (that  means 
one  wheel),  and  a  son  to  keep  in  Paris,  and  that  takes  the 
other." 

"Are  you  still  determined  to  make  a  magistrate  of  him?" 

"What  can  one  do?  You  must  do  something  with  a  boy, 
and  beside,  it  is  no  disgrace  to  serve  the  King." 

Sometimes  a  discussion  on  cider  or  flax  was  continued  on 
the  way,  the  very  same  things  being  said  at  the  same  season 
year  after  year.  If  any  observer  of  human  nature  had  lived 
in  that  particular  street,  their  conversation  would  have  sup- 
plied him  with  an  almanac.  At  this  moment,  however,  the 
talk  was  of  a  decidedly  Rabelaisian  turn ;  for  du  Bousquier, 
walking  on  ahead  by  himself,  was  humming  the  well-known 
tune  "Femme  sensible,  ecouter-tu  le  ramage?"  without  a  sus- 
picion of  its  appropriateness.  Some  of  the  party  held  that  du 
Bousquier  was  uncommonly  long-headed,  and  that  people 
judged  him  unjustly.  President  du  Ronceret  inclined  toward 
this  view  since  he  had  been  confirmed  in  his  post  by  a  new 
royal  decree.  The  rest  regarded  the  forage-contractor  as  a 
dangerous  man  of  lax  morals,  of  whom  anything  might  be 
expected.  In  the  provinces,  as  in  Paris,  public  men  are  very 
much  in  the  position  of  the  statue  in  Addison's  ingenious 
fable.  The  statue  was  erected  at  a  place  where  four  roads 
met;  two  cavaliers  coming  up  on  opposite  sides  declared, 
the  one  that  it  was  white,  the  other  that  it  was  black,  until 
they  came  to  blows,  and  both  of  them  lying  on  the  ground 
discovered  that  it  was  black  on  one  side  and  white  on  the 
other,  while  a  third  cavalier  coming  up  to  their  assistance 
affirmed  that  it  was  red. 

When  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  reached  home,  he  said  to 
himself:  "It  is  time  to  spread  a  report  that  I  am  going  to 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          97 

marry  Mademoiselle  Cormon.  The  news  shall  come  from  the 
d'Esgrignon's  salon  ;  it  shall  go  straight  to  the  bishop's  palace 
at  Seez  and  come  back  through  one  of  the  vicars-general  to 
the  cure  of  St.  Leonard's.  He  will  not  fail  to  tell  the  Abb6 
Couturier,  and  in  this  way  Mademoiselle  Cormon  will  receive 
the  shot  well  under  the  water-line.  The  old  Marquis  d'Es- 
grignon  is  sure  to  ask  the  Abbe  de  Sponde  to  dinner  to  put  a 
stop  to  gossip  which  might  injure  Mademoiselle  Cormon  if  I 
fail  to  come  forward ;  or  me,  if  she  refuses  me.  The  abbe 
shall  be  well  and  duly  entangled ;  and  after  a  call  from  Made- 
moiselle de  Gordes,  in  the  course  of  which  the  grandeur  and 
the  prospects  of  the  alliance  will  be  put  before  Mademoiselle 
Cormon,  she  is  not  likely  to  hold  out.  The  abbe  will  leave 
her  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  crowns ;  and  as  for  her, 
she  must  have  put  by  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  livres  by 
this  time ;  she  has  her  house,  the  Prebaudet,  and  some  fifteen 
thousand  livres  per  annum.  One  word  to  my  friend  the 
Comte  de  Fontaine,  and  I  am  Mayor  of  Alenc.on,  and  deputy  ; 
then,  once  seated  on  the  right-hand  benches,  the  way  to  a 
peerage  is  cleared  by  a  well-timed  cry  of  '  Cloture,'  or 
'  Order.'  " 

When  Mme.  Granson  reached  home,  she  had  a  warm  ex- 
planation with  her  son.  He  could  not  be  made  to  under- 
stand the  connection  between  his  political  opinions  and  his 
love.  It  was  the  first  quarrel  which  had  troubled  the  peace 
of  the  poor  little  household. 

Next  morning,  at  nine  o'clock,  Mile.  Cormon,  packed  into 
the  cariole  with  Josette  by  her  side,  drove  up  the  Rue  Saint- 
Blaise  on  her  way  to  the  Prebaudet,  looking  like  a  pyramid 
above  an  ocean  of  packages.  And  the  event  which  was  to 
surprise  her  there  and  hasten  on  her  marriage  was  unseen  as 
yet  by  Mme.  Granson,  or  du  Bousquier,  or  M.  de  Valois,  or 
by  Mile.  Cormon  herself.  Chance  is  the  greatest  artist  of 
all. 

7 


98  THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

On  the  morrow  of  mademoiselle's  arrival  at  the  Prebaudet, 
she  was  very  harmlessly  engaged  in  taking  her  eight-o'clock 
breakfast,  while  she  listened  to  the  reports  of  her  bailiff  and 
gardener,  when  Jacquelin,  in  a  great  flurry,  burst  into  the 
dining-room. 

"  Mademoiselle,"  cried  he,  "  Monsieur  1'Abbe  has  sent  an 
express  messenger  to  you  ;  that  boy  of  Mother  Grosmort's  has 
come  with  a  letter.  The  lad  left  Alencon  before  daybreak, 
and  yet  here  he  is !  He  came  almost  as  fast  as  Penelope. 
Ought  he  to  have  a  glass  of  wine?  " 

"What  can  have  happened,  Josette?     Can  uncle  be " 

"  He  would  not  have  written  if  he  was,"  said  the  woman, 
guessing  her  mistress'  fears. 

Mile.  Cormon  glanced  over  the  first  few  lines. 

"Quick!  quick!"  she  cried.  "Tell  Jacquelin  to  put 
Penelope  in.  Get  ready,  child,  have  everything  packed  in 
half  an  hour,  we  are  going  back  to  town,"  she  added,  turning 
to  Josette. 

"Jacquelin  !  "  called  Josette,  excited  by  the  expression  of 
Mile.  Cormon's  face.  Jacquelin  on  receiving  his  orders  came 
back  to  the  house  to  expostulate. 

"But,  mademoiselle,  Penelope  has  only  just  been  fed." 

"  Eh  !  what  does  that  matter  to  me  ?  I  want  to  start  this 
moment." 

"But,  mademoiselle,  it  is  going  to  rain." 

"  Very  well.     We  shall  be  wet  through." 

"The  house  is  on  fire,"  muttered  Josette,  vexed  because 
her  mistress  said  nothing,  but  read  her  letter  through  to  the 
end,  and  then  began  again  at  the  beginning. 

"Just  finish  your  coffee  at  any  rate.  Don't  upset  yourself! 
See  how  red  you  are  in  the  face." 

"  Red  in  the  face,  Josette  !  "  exclaimed  Mile.  Cormon,  going 
up  to  the  mirror ;  and  as  the  quick-silvered  sheet  had  come 
away  from  the  glass,  she  beheld  her  countenance  doubly  dis- 
torted. "  Oh,  dear  !  "  she  thought,  "  I  shall  look  ugly  ! 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          99 

Come,  come,  Josette,  child,  help  me  to  dress.  I  want  to  be 
ready  before  Jacquelin  puts  Penelope  in.  If  you  cannot  put 
all  the  things  into  the  chaise,  I  would  rather  leave  them  here 
than  lose  a  minute." 

If  you  have  fully  comprehended  the  degree  of  monomania 
to  which  Mile.  Cormon  had  been  driven  by  her  desire  to 
marry,  you  will  share  her  excitement.  Her  worthy  uncle  in- 
formed her  that  M.  de  Troisville,  a  retired  soldier  from  the 
Russian  service,  the  grandson  of  one  of  his  best  friends,  wish- 
ing to  settle  down  in  Alencon,  had  asked  for  his  hospitality 
for  the  sake  of  the  abbe's  old  friendship  with  the  mayor,  his 
grandfather,  the  Vicomte  de  Troisville  of  the  reign  of  Louis 
XV.  M.  de  Sponde,  in  alarm,  begged  his  niece  to  come  home 
at  once  to  help  him  to  entertain  the  guest  and  to  do  the 
honors  of  the  house;  for  as  there  had  been  some  delay  in 
forwarding  the  letter,  M.  de  Troisville  might  be  expected  to 
drop  in  upon  him  that  very  evening. 

How  was  it  possible  after  reading  that  letter  to  give  any 
attention  to  affairs  at  the  Prebaudet?  The  tenant  and  the 
bailiff,  beholding  their  mistress'  dismay,  lay  low  and  waited 
for  orders.  When  they  stopped  her  passage  to  ask  for  instruc- 
tions, Mile.  Cormon,  the  despotic  old  maid,  who  saw  to  every- 
thing herself  at  the  Prebaudet,  answered  them  with  an  "As 
you  please,"  which  struck  them  dumb  with  amazement.  This 
was  the  mistress  who  carried  administrative  zeal  to  such 
lengths  that  she  counted  the  fruit  and  entered  it  under  head- 
ings, so  that  she  could  regulate  the  consumption  by  the  quan- 
tity of  each  sort ! 

"  I  must  be  dreaming,  I  think,"  said  Josette,  when  she  saw 
her  mistress  flying  upstairs  like  some  elephant  on  which  God 
should  have  bestowed  wings. 

In  a  little  while,  in  spite  of  the  pelting  rain,  mademoiselle 
was  driving  away  from  the  Prebaudet,  leaving  her  people  to 
have  things  all  their  own  way.  Jacquelin  dared  not  take  it 
upon  himself  to  drive  the  placid  Penelope  any  faster  than  her 


100         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

usual  jog-trot  pace  ;  and  the  old  mare,  something  like  the  fair 
queen  after  whom  she  was  named,  seemed  to  take  a  step  back 
for  every  step  forward.  Beholding  this,  mademoiselle  bade 
Jacquelin,  in  a  vinegar  voice,  to  urge  the  poor  astonished 
beast  to  a  gallop,  and  to  use  the  whip  if  necessary,  so  appalling 
was  the  thought  that  M.  de  Troisville  might  arrive  before  the 
house  was  ready  for  him.  A  grandson  of  an  old  friend  of  her 
uncle's  could  not  be  much  over  forty,  she  thought ;  a  military 
man  must  infallibly  be  a  bachelor.  She  vowed  inwardly  that, 
with  her  uncle's  help,  M.  de  Troisville  should  not  depart  in 
the  estate  in  which  he  entered  the  Maison  Cormon.  Pene- 
lope galloped  ;  but  mademoiselle,  absorbed  in  dresses  and 
dreams  of  a  wedding-night,  told  Jacquelin  again  and  again 
that  he  was  standing  still.  She  fidgeted  in  her  seat,  without 
vouchsafing  any  answer  to  Josette's  questions,  and  talked  to 
herself  as  if  she  was  revolving  mighty  matters  in  her  mind. 

At  last  the  cariole  turned  into  the  long  street  of  Alen^on, 
known  as  the  Rue  Saint-Blaise  if  you  come  in  on  the  side  of 
Mortagne,  the  Rue  de  la  Porte  de  Seez  by  the  time  you  reach 
the  sign  of  the  Three  Moors,  and  lastly  as  the  Rue  du  Bercail, 
when  it  finally  debouches  into  the  highway  into  Brittany.  If 
Mile.  Cormon's  departure  for  the  Prebaudet  made  a  great 
noise  in  Alengon,  anybody  can  imagine  the  hubbub  caused  by 
her  return  on  the  following  day,  with  the  driving  rain  lashing 
her  face.  Everybody  remarked  Penelope's  furious  pace,  Jac- 
quelin's  sly  looks,  the  earliness  of  the  hour,  the  bundles  piled 
up  topsy-turvy,  the  lively  conversation  between  mistress  and 
maid,  and,  more  than  all  things,  the  impatience  of  the  party. 

The  Troisville  estates  lay  between  Alen^on  and  Mortagne. 
Josette,  therefore,  knew  about  the  different  branches  of  the 
family.  A  word  let  fall  by  her  mistress  just  as  they  reached 
the  paved  street  of  Alen^on  put  Josette  in  possession  of  the 
facts,  and  a  discussion  sprang  up,  in  the  course  of  which  the 
two  women  settled  between  themselves  that  the  expected  guest 
must  be  a  man  of  forty  or  forty-two,  a  bachelor,  neither  rich 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OP  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        101 

nor  poor.  Mademoiselle  saw  herself  Vicoratesse  de  Trois- 
ville. 

"And  here  is  uncle  telling  me  nothing,  knowing  nothing, 
and  wanting  to  know  nothing  !  Oh,  so  like  uncle  !  He 
would  forget  his  nose  if  it  was  not  fastened  to  his  face." 

Have  you  not  noticed  how  mature  spinsters,  under  these 
circumstances,  grow  as  intelligent,  fierce,  bold,  and  full  of 
promises  as  a  Richard  III.?  To  them,  as  to  clerics  in  liquor, 
nothing  is  sacred. 

In  one  moment,  from  the  upper  end  of  the  Rue  Saint-Blaise 
to  the  Porte  de  Seez,  the  town  of  Alencon  heard  of  Mile. 
Cormon's  return  with  aggravating  circumstances,  heard  with 
a  mighty  perturbation  of  its  vitals  and  trouble  of  the  organs 
of  life  public  and  domestic.  Cook-maids,  storekeepers,  and 
passers-by  carried  the  news  from  door  to  door,  then,  without 
delay,  it  circulated  in  the  upper  spheres,  and  almost  simul- 
taneously the  words:  "  Mademoiselle  Cormon  has  come  back," 
exploded  like  a  bomb  in  every  house. 

Meanwhile  Jacquelin  climbed  down  from  his  wooden  bench 
in  front,  polished  by  some  process  unknown  to  cabinet-makers, 
and  with  his  own  hands  opened  the  great  gates  with  the 
rounded  tops.  They  were  closed  in  Mile.  Cormon's  absence 
as  a  sign  of  mourning ;  for  when  she  went  away  her  house 
was  shut  up,  and  the  faithful  took  it  in  turn  to  show  hospi- 
tality to  the  Abbe  de  Sponde.  (M.  de  Valois  used  to  pay  his 
debt  by  an  invitation  to  dine  at  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon's.) 
Jacquelin  gave  the  familiar  call  to  Penelope  standing  in  the 
middle  of  the  road;  and  the  animal,  accustomed  to  this 
manoeuvre,  turned  into  the  courtyard,  steering  clear  of  the 
flower-bed,  till  Jacquelin  took  the  bridle  and  walked  round 
with  the  chaise  to  the  steps  before  the  door. 

"Mariette  !  "  called  Mile.  Cormon. 

"Mademoiselle?"  returned  Mariette,  engaged  in  shutting 
the  gates. 

"  Has  the  gentleman  come  ?  " 


102         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"No,  mademoiselle." 

"And  is  my  uncle  here?  " 

"  He  is  at  the  church,  mademoiselle." 

Jacquelin  and  Josette  were  standing  on  the  lowest  step  of 
the  flight,  holding  out  their  hands  to  steady  their  mistress' 
descent  from  the  cariole ;  she,  meanwhile,  had  hoisted  her- 
self upon  the  shaft,  and  was  clutching  at  the  curtains,  before 
springing  down  into  their  arms.  It  was  two  years  since  she  had 
dared  to  trust  herself  upon  the  iron  step  of  double  strength, 
secured  to  the  shaft  by  a  fearfully  made  contrivance  with  huge 
bolts. 

From  the  height  of  the  steps,  mademoiselle  surveyed  her 
courtyard  with  an  air  of  satisfaction. 

"There,  there,  Mariette,  let  the  great  gate  alone  and  come 
here." 

"There  is  something  up,"  Jacquelin  said  to  Mariette  as 
she  came  past  the  chaise. 

"Let  us  see  now,  child,  what  is  there  in  the  house?"  said 
Mile.  Connon,  collapsing  on  the  bench  in  the  long  ante- 
chamber as  if  she  were  exhausted. 

"Just  nothing  at  all,"  replied  Mariette,  hands  on  hips. 
"  Mademoiselle  knows  quite  well  that  Monsieur  1'Abbe  always 
dines  out  when  she  is  not  at  home  ;  yesterday  I  went  to  bring 
him  back  from  Mademoiselle  Armande's." 

"Then  where  is  he?" 

"  Monsieur  1'Abbe?  He  is  gone  to  church  ;  he  will  not  be 
back  till  three  o'clock." 

"Uncle  thinks  of  nothing!  Why  couldn't  he  have  sent 
you  to  market?  Go  down  now,  Mariette,  and,  without 
throwing  money  away,  spare  for  nothing,  get  the  best,  finest, 
and  daintiest  of  everything.  Go  to  the  coach  office  and  ask 
where  people  send  orders  for  pates.  And  I  want  cray-fish 
from  the  brooks  along  the  Brillante.  What  time  is  it  ?  " 

"  Nine  o'clock  all  but  a  quarter." 

"Oh  dear,  oh  dear;   don't   lose  any  time  in  chattering, 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        103 

Mariette.  The  visitor  my  uncle  is  expecting  may  come  at  any 
moment ;  pretty  figures  we  should  cut  if  he  comes  to 
breakfast." 

Mariette,  turning  round,  saw  Penelope  in  a  lather,  and  gave 
Jacquelin  a  glance  which  said  :  "  Mademoiselle  means  to  put 
her  hand  on  a  husband  this  time." 

Mile.  Cormon  turned  to  her  housemaid.  "Now,  it  is  our 
turn,  Josette ;  we  must  make  arrangements  for  Monsieur 
de  Troisville  to  sleep  here  to-night." 

How  gladly  those  words  were  uttered  !  "  We  must  arrange 
for  Monsieur  de  Troisville  "  (pronounced  Treville)  "  to  sleep 
here  to-night !  "  How  much  lay  in  those  few  words  !  Hope 
poured  like  a  flood  through  the  old  maid's  soul. 

"  Will  you  put  him  in  the  green  chamber?" 

"The  bishop's  room?  No,"  said  mademoiselle,  "it  is 
too  near  mine.  It  is  very  well  for  his  lordship,  a  holy  man." 

"  Give  him  your  uncle's  room." 

"  It  looks  so  bare  ;  it  would  not  do." 

"Lord,  mademoiselle,  you  could  have  a  bed  put  up  in 
the  boudoir  in  a  brace  of  shakes ;  there  is  a  fireplace  there. 
Moreau  will  be  sure  to  find  a  bedstead  in  his  warehouse  that 
will  match  the  hangings  as  nearly  as  possible." 

"  You  are  right,  Josette.  Very  well ;  run  round  to  Moreau's 
and  ask  his  advice  about  everything  necessary;  I  give  you 
authority.  If  the  bed,  Monsieur  de  Troisville's  bed,  can  be 
set  up  by  this  evening,  so  that  Monsieur  de  Troisville  shall 
notice  nothing,  supposing  that  Monsieur  de  Troisville  should 
happen  to  come  in  while  Moreau  is  here,  I  am  quite  willing. 
If  Moreau  cannot  promise  that,  Monsieur  de  Troisville  shall 
sleep  in  the  green  chamber,  although  Monsieur  de  Troisville 
will  be  very  near  me." 

Josette  departed ;  her  mistress  called  her  back. 

"Tell  Jacquelin  all  about  it,"  she  exclaimed  in  a  stern  and 
awful  voice ;  "  let  him  go  to  Moreau.  How  about  my  dress? 
Suppose  Monsieur  de  Troisville  came  and  caught  me  like 


104         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

this,  without  uncle  here  to  receive  him  !  Oh,  uncle  !  uncle  ! 
Come,  Josette,  you  shall  help  me  to  dress." 

"But  how  about  Penelope?"  the  woman  began  impru- 
dently. Mile.  Cormon's  eyes  shot  sparks  for  the  first  and 
last  time  in  her  life. 

"It  is  always  Penelope  !  Penelope  this,  Penelope  that !  Is 
Penelope  mistress  here  ?  " 

"  She  is  all  of  a  lather,  and  she  has  not  been  fed." 

"Eh!  and  if  she  dies,  let  her  die "  cried  Mile.  Cor- 

mon — "so  long  as  I  am  married,"  she  added  in  her  own 
mind. 

Josette  stood  stockstill  a  moment  in  amazement,  such  a 
remark  was  tantamount  to  murder;  then,  at  a  sign  from 
her  mistress,  she  dashed  headlong  down  the  steps  into  the 
yard. 

"Mademoiselle  is  possessed,  Jacquelin !  "  were  Josette's 
first  words. 

And  in  this  way,  everything  that  occurred  throughout  the 
day  led  up  to  the  great  climax  which  was  to  change  the  whole 
course  of  Mile.  Cormon's  life.  The  town  was  already  turned 
upside  down  by  five  aggravating  circumstances  which  attended 
the  lady's  sudden  return,  to  wit — the  pouring  rain ;  Pene- 
lope's panting  pace  and  sunk  flanks  covered  with  foam;  the 
earliness  of  the  hour ;  the  untidy  bundles  ;  and  the  spinster's 
strange,  scared  looks.  But  when  Mariette  invaded  the  market 
to  carry  off  everything  that  she  could  lay  her  hands  on  ;  when 
Jacquelin  went  to  inquire  for  a  bedstead  of  the  principal  up- 
holsterer in  the  Rue  Porte  de  Seez,  close  by  the  church ;  here, 
indeed,  was  material  on  which  to  build  the  gravest  conjecture  ! 
The  strange  event  was  discussed  on  the  parade  and  the  prom- 
enade ;  every  one  was  full  of  it,  not  excepting  Mile.  Armande, 
on  whom  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  happened  to  be  calling  at 
the  time. 

Only  two  days  ago  Alen^on  had  been  stirred  to  its  depths 
by  occurrences  of  such  capital  importance  that  worthy  matrons 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A   COUNTRY  TOWN.        105 

were  still  exclaiming  that  it  was  like  the  end  of  the  world  ! 
And  now,  this  last  news  was  summed  up  in  all  houses  by  the 
inquiry : 

<%"  What  can  be  happening  at  the  Cormons'  ?  " 
The  Abbe  de  Sponde,  skillfully  questioned  when  he  emerged 
from  St.  Leonard's  to  take  a  walk  with  the  Abbe  Couturier 
along  the  parade,  made  reply  in  the  simplicity  of  his  heart, 
to  the  effect  that  he  expected  a  visit  from  the  Vicomte  de 
Troisville,  who  had  been  in  the  Russian  service  during  the 
Emigration,  and  now  was  coming  back  to  settle  in  Alen^on. 
A  kind  of  labial  telegraph,  at  work  that  afternoon  between 
two  and  five  o'clock,  informed  all  the  inhabitants  of  Alencon 
that  Mile.  Cormon  at  last  had  found  herself  a  husband  by 
advertisement.  She  was  going  to  marry  the  Vicomte  de 
Troisville.  Some  said  that  "Moreau  was  at  work  on  a  bed- 
stead already."  In  some  places  the  bed  was  six  feet  long. 
It  was  only  four  feet  at  Mme.  Granson's  house  in  the  Rue  du 
Bercail.  At  President  du  Ronceret's,  where  du  Bousquier 
was  dining,  it  dwindled  into  a  sofa.  The  tradespeople  said 
that  it  cost  eleven  hundred  francs.  It  was  generally  thought 
that  this  was  like  counting  your  chickens  before  they  were 
hatched. 

Farther  away,  it  was  said  that  the  price  of  carp  had  gone 
up.  Mariette  had  swooped  down  upon  the  market  and  created 
a  general  scarcity.  Penelope  had  dropped  down  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  Rue  Saint-Blaise ;  the  death  was  called  in  question 
at  the  receiver-general's ;  nevertheless,  at  the  prefecture  it  was 
known  for  a  fact  that  the  animal  fell  dead  just  as  she  turned 
in  at  the  gate  of  the  Hotel  Cormon,  so  swiftly  had  the  old 
maid  come  down  upon  her  prey.  The  saddler  at  the  corner 
of  the  Rue  de  Seez,  in  his  anxiety  to  know  the  truth  about 
Penelope,  was  hardy  enough  to  call  in  to  ask  if  anything  had 
happened  to  Mile.  Cormon's  chaise.  Then  from  the  utmost 
end  of  the  Rue  Saint-Blaise  to  the  furthermost  parts  of  the 
Rue  du  Bercail,  it  was  known  that,  thanks  to  Jacquelin's  care, 


106         THE  JEALOUSIES  OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Penelope,  duuib  victim  of  her  mistress'  intemperate  haste, 
was  still  alive,  but  she  seemed  to  be  in  a  bad  way. 

All  along  the  Brittany  road  the  Vicomte  de  Troisville  was 
a  penniless  younger  son,  for  the  domains  of  Perche  belonged 
to  the  marquis  of  that  ilk,  a  peer  of  France  with  two  children. 
The  match  was  a  lucky  thing  for  an  impoverished  emigre ;  as 
for  the  vicomte  himself,  that  was  Mile.  Cormon's  affair. 
Altogether  the  match  received  the  approval  of  the  aristocratic 
section  on  the  Brittany  road ;  Mile.  Cormon  could  not  have 
put  her  fortune  to  a  better  use. 

Among  the  bourgeoisie,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Vicomte  de 
Troisville  was  a  Russian  general  that  had  borne  arms  against 
France.  He  was  bringing  back  a  large  fortune  made  at  the 
court  of  St.  Petersburg.  He  was  a  "foreigner,"  one  of  the 
"Allies"  detested  by  the  Liberals.  The  Abbe  de  Sponde 
had  manoeuvred  the  match  on  the  sly.  Every  person  who 
had  any  shadow  of  a  right  of  entrance  to  Mile.  Cormon's 
drawing-room  vowed  to  be  there  that  night. 

While  the  excitement  went  through  the  town,  and  all  but 
put  Suzanne  out  of  people's  heads,  Mile.  Cormon  herself  was 
not  less  excited ;  she  felt  as  she  had  never  felt  before.  She 
looked  round  the  drawing-room,  the  boudoir,  the  cabinet, 
the  dining-room,  and  a  dreadful  apprehension  seized  upon  her. 
Some  mocking  demon  seemed  to  show  her  the  old-fashioned 
splendor  in  a  new  light;  the  beautiful  furniture,  admired  ever 
since  she  was  a  child,  was  suspected,  nay,  convicted,  of  being 
out  of  date.  She  was  shaken,  in  fact,  by  the  dread  that 
catches  almost  every  author  by  the  throat  when  he  begins  to 
read  his  own  work  aloud  to  some  exigent  or  jaded  critic. 
Before  he  began,  it  was  perfect  in  his  eyes ;  now  the  novel 
situations  are  stale ;  the  finest  periods  turned  with  such  secret 
relish  are  turgid  or  halting;  the  metaphors  are  mixed  or 
grotesque;  his  sins  stare  him  in  the  face.  Even  so,  poor 
Mile.  Cormon  shivered  to  think  of  the  smile  on  M.  de  Trois- 
ville's  lips  when  he  looked  round  that  salon,  which  looked 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.         107 

like  a  bishop's  drawing-room,  unchanged  for  one  possessor 
after  another.  She  dreaded  his  cool  survey  of  the  ancient 
dining-room ;  in  short,  she  was  afraid  that  the  picture  might 
look  the  older  for  the  ancient  frame.  How  if  all,  these  old 
things  should  tinge  her  with  their  age?  The  bare  thought 
of  it  made  her  flesh  creep.  At  that  moment  she  would  have 
given  one-fourth  of  her  savings  for  the  power  of  renovating 
her  house  at  a  stroke  of  a  magic  wand.  Where  is  the  general 
so  conceited  that  he  will  not  shudder  on  the  eve  of  an 
action  ?  She,  poor  thing,  was  between  an  Austerlitz  and  a 
Waterloo.  « 

"  Madame  la  Vicomtesse  de  Troisville,"  she  said  to  herself, 
"  what  a  fine  name  !  Our  estates  will  pass  to  a  good  house, 
at  any  rate." 

Her  excitement  fretted  her.  It  sent  a  thrill  through  every 
fibre  of  every  nerve  to  the  least  of  the  ramifications  and  the 
papillae  so  well  wadded  with  flesh.  Hope  tingling  in  her 
veins  set  all  the  blood  in  her  body  in  circulation.  She  felt 
capable,  if  need  was,  of  conversing  with  M.  de  Troisville. 

Of  the  activity  with  which  Josette,  Mariette,  Jacquelin, 
Moreau,  and  his  assistants  set  about  their  work,  it  is  needless 
to  speak.  Ants  rescuing  their  eggs  could  not  have  been 
busier  than  they.  Everything,  kept  so  neat  and  clean  with 
daily  care,  was  starched  and  ironed,  scrubbed,  washed,  and 
polished.  The  best  china  saw  the  light.  Linen  damask  cloths 
and  serviettes  docketed  A  B  C  D  emerged  from  the  depths 
where  they  lay  shrouded  in  triple  wrappings  and  defended  by 
bristling  rows  of  pins.  The  rarest  shelves  of  that  oak-bound 
library  were  made  to  give  account  of  their  contents;  and 
finally,  mademoiselle  offered  up  three  bottles  of  liqueurs  to 
the  coming  guest,  three  bottles  bearing  the  label  of  the  most 
famous  distiller  of  over-sea — Mme.  Amphoux,  name  dear  to 
connoisseurs. 

Mile.  Cormon  was  ready  for  battle,  thanks  to  the  devotion 
of  her  lieutenants.  The  munitions  of  war,  the  heavy  artillery 


108         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

of  the  kitchen,  the  batteries  of  the  pantry,  the  victuals,  pro- 
visions for  the  attack,  and  body  of  (p)reserves,  had  all  been 
brought  up  in  array.  Orders  were  issued  to  Jacquelin,  Mari- 
ette,  and  Josette  to  wear  their  best  clothes.  The  garden  was 
raked  over.  Mademoiselle  only  regretted  that  she  could  not 
come  to  an  understanding  with  the  nightingales  in  the  trees, 
that  they  might  warble  their  sweetest  songs  for  the  occasion. 
At  length,  at  four  o'clock,  just  as  the  abbe  came  in,  and 
mademoiselle  was  beginning  to  think  that  she  had  brought 
out  her  daintiest  linen  and  china  and  made  ready  the  most 
exquisite  of  dinners  in  vain,  the  crack  of  a  postillion's  whip 
sounded  outside  in  the  Val-Noble. 

"It  is  he  \  "  she  thought,  and  the  lash  of  the  whip  struck 
her  in  the  heart. 

And  indeed,  heralded  by  all  this  tittle-tattle,  a  certain  post- 
chaise,  with  a  single  gentleman  inside  it,  had  made  such  a 
prodigious  sensation  as  it  drove  down  the  Rue  Saint-Blaise 
and  turned  into  the  Rue  du  Cours,  that  several  small  urchins 
and  older  persons  gave  chase  to  the  vehicle,  and  now  were 
standing  in  a  group  about  the  gateway  of  the  Hotel  Cormon 
to  watch  the  postillion  drive  in.  Jacquelin,  feeling  that  his 
own  marriage  was  in  the  wind,  had  also  heard  the  crack  of 
the  whip,  and  was  out  in  the  yard  to  throw  open  the  gates. 
The  postillion  (an  acquaintance)  was  on  his  mettle,  he  turned 
the  corner  to  admiration,  and  came  to  a  stand  before  the 
flight  of  steps.  And,  as  you  can  understand,  he  did  not  go 
until  Jacquelin  had  duly  and  properly  made  him  tipsy. 

The  abbe  came  out  to  meet  his  guest,  and  in  a  trice  the 
chaise  was  despoiled  of  its  occupant,  robbers  in  a  hurry  could 
not  have  done  their  work  more  nimbly ;  then  the  chaise  was 
put  into  the  coach-house,  the  great  door  was  closed,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  there  was  not  a  sign  of  M.  de  Troisville's  arrival. 
Never  did  two  chemicals  combine  with  a  greater  alacrity  than 
that  displayed  by  the  house  of  Cormon  to  absorb  the  Vicomte 
de  Troisville.  As  for  mademoiselle,  if  she  had  been  a  lizard 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         109 

caught  by  a  shepherd,  her  heart  could  not  have  beat  faster. 
She  sat  heroically  in  her  low  chair  by  the  fireside ;  Josette 
threw  open  the  door,  and  the  Vicomte  de  Troisville,  followed 
by  the  Abbe  de  Sponde,  appeared  before  her.  / 

"  This  is  Monsieur  le  Vicomte  de  Troisville,  niece,  a  grand- 
son of  an  old  schoolfellow  of  mine.  Monsieur  de  Troisville, 
my  niece,  Mademoiselle  Cormon." 

"  Dear  uncle,  how  nicely  he  puts  it,"  thought  Rose-Marie- 
Victoire. 

The  Vicomte  de  Troisville,  to  describe  him  in  a  few  words, 
was  a  du  Bousquier  of  noble  family.  Between  the  two  men 
there  was  just  that  difference  which  separates  the  gentleman 
from  the  ordinary  man.  If  they  had  been  standing  side  by 
side,  even  the  most  furious  Radical  could  not  have  denied  the 
signs  of  race  about  the  vicomte.  There  was  all  the  distinc- 
tion of  refinement  about  his  strength,  his  figure  had  lost 
nothing  of  its  magnificent  dignity.  Blue-eyed,  dark-haired, 
and  olive-skinned,  he  could  not  have  been  more  than  six-and- 
forty.  You  might  have  thought  him  a  handsome  Spaniard 
preserved  in  Russian  ice.  His  manner,  gait,  and  bearing, 
and  everything  about  him,  suggested  a  diplomatist,  and  one 
that  has  seen  Europe.  He  looked  like  a  gentleman  in  his 
traveling  .dress. 

M.  de  Troisville  seemed  to  be  tired.  The  abbe  rose  to 
conduct  him  to  his  room,  and  was  overcome  with  astonish- 
ment when  Rose  opened  the  door  of  the  boudoir,  now  trans- 
formed into  a  bedroom.  Then  uncle  and  niece  left  the  noble 
visitor  leisure  to  attend  to  his  toilet  with  the  help  of  Jacquelin, 
who  brought  him  all  the  luggage  which  he  needed.  While 
M.  de  Troisville  was  dressing,  they  walked  on  the  terrace  by 
the  Brillante.  The  abbe,  by  a  strange  chance,  was  more 
absent-minded  than  usual,  and  Mile.  Cormon  no  less  preoccu- 
pied, so  they  paced  to  and  fro  in  silence.  Never  in  her  life 
had  Mile.  Cormon  seen  so  attractive  a  man  as  this  Olympian 
vicomte.  She  could  not  say  to  herself,  like  a  German  girl, 


110         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"  I  hare  found  my  Ideal  !  "  but  she  felt  that  she  was  in  love 
from  head  to  foot.  "  The  very  thing  for  me,"  she  thought. 
On  a  sudden  she  fled  to  Mariette,  to  know  whether  dinner 
could  be  put  back  a  little  without  serious  injury. 

"  Uncle,  this  Monsieur  de  Troisville  is  very  pleasant,"  she 
said  when  she  came  back  again. 

"Why,  my  girl,  he  has  not  said  a  word  as  yet,"  returned 
the  abbe,  laughing. 

"But  one  can  tell  by  his  general  appearance.  Is  he  a 
bachelor?" 

"I  know  nothing  about  it,"  replied  her  uncle,  his  thoughts 
full  of  that  afternoon's  discussion  with  the  Abbe  Couturier  on 
Divine  Grace.  "  Monsieur  de  Troisville  said  in  his  letter 
that  he  wanted  to  buy  a  house  here.  If  he  were  married,  he 
would  not  have  come  alone,"  he  added  carelessly.  It  never 
entered  his  head  that  his  niece  could  think  of  marriage  for 
herself. 

"Is  he  rich?" 

"  He  is  the  younger  son  of  a  younger  branch.  His  grand- 
father held  a  major's  commission,  but  this  young  man's  father 
made  a  foolish  marriage." 

"Young  man!"  repeated  his  niece.  "Why,  he  is  quite 
five-and-forty,  uncle,  it  seems  to  me."  She  felt  an  uncon- 
trollable desire  to  compare  his  age  with  hers. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  abb6.  "But  to  a  poor  priest  at  seventy, 
a  man  of  forty  seems  young,  Rose." 

By  this  time  all  Alencon  knew  that  M.  le  Vicomte  de  Trois- 
villa  had  arrived  at  the  Cormon  house. 

The  visitor  very  soon  rejoined  his  host  and  hostess,  and 
began  to  admire  the  Brillante,  the  garden,  the  house,  and 
surroundings. 

"  Monsieur  1'Abbe,"  he  said,  "  to  find  such  a  place  as  this 
would  be  the  height  of  my  ambition." 

The  old  maid  wished  to  read  a  declaration  in  the  speech. 
She  lowered  her  eyes. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        Ill 

"You  must  be  very  fond  of  it,  mademoiselle,"  continued 
the  vicomte. 

"  How  could  I  help  being  fond  of  it  ?  It  has  been  in  our 
family  since  1574,  when  one  of  our  ancestors,  an  Intendant 
of  the  Duchy  of  Alen^on,  bought  the  ground  and  built  the 
house.  It  is  laid  on  piles." 

Jacquelin  having  announced  that  dinner  was  ready,  M.  de 
Troisville  offered  his  arm.  The  radiant  spinster  tried  not  to 
lean  too  heavily  upon  him  ;  she  was  still  afraid  that  he  might 
think  her  forward. 

"Everything  is  quite  in  harmony  here,"  remarked  the 
vicomte  as  they  sat  down  to  table. 

"Yes,  the  trees  in  our  garden  are  full  of  birds  that  give  us 
music  for  nothing.  Nobody  molests  them ;  the  nightingales 
sing  there  every  night,"  said  Mile.  Cormon. 

"  I  am  speaking  of  the  inside  of  the  house,"  remarked  the 
vicomte ;  he  had  not  troubled  himself  to  study  his  hostess 
particularly,  and  was  quite  unaware  of  her  vacuity.  "Yes, 
everything  contributes  to  the  general  effect:  the  tones  of 
color,  the  furniture,  the  character  of  the  house,"  added  he, 
addressing  Mile.  Cormon. 

"It  costs  a  great  deal,  though,"  replied  that  excellent 
spinster,  "the  taxes  are  something  enormous."  The  word 
"contribute  "  had  impressed  ftself  on  her  mind. 

"Ah!  then  are  the  taxes  high  here?"  asked  Monsieur  de 
Troisville,  too  full  of  his  own  ideas  to  notice  the  absurd  non 
sequitur. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  said  the  abbe.  "  My  niece  manages  her 
own  property  and  mine." 

"The  taxes  are  a  mere  trifle  if  people  are  well  to  do," 
struck  in  Mile.  Cormon,  anxious  not  to  appear  stingy.  "As 
to  the  furniture,  I  leave  things  as  they  are.  I  shall  never 
make  any  changes  here ;  at  least  I  shall  not,  unless  I  marry, 
and  in  that  case  everything  in  the  house  must  be  arranged  to 
suit  the  master's  taste." 


112         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

"You  are  for  great  principles,  mademoiselle,"  smiled  the 
vicomte ;  "  somebody  will  be  a  lucky  man." 

"  Nobody  ever  made  me  such  a  pretty  speech  before," 
thought  Mile.  Cormon. 

The  vicomte  complimented  his  hostess  upon  the  appoint- 
ments of  the  table  and  the  housekeeping,  admitting  that  he 
had  thought  that  the  provinces  were  behind  the  times,  and 
found  himself  in  most  delectable  quarters. 

"Delectable,  good  Lord!  what  does  it  mean?"  thought 
she.  "  Where  is  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  to  reply  to  him  ? 
De-lect-able  ?  Is  it  made  up  of  several  words  ?  There  !  cour- 
age ;  perhaps  it  is  Russian,  and  if  so  I  am  not  obliged  to  say 
anything."  Then  she  added  aloud,  her  tongue  loosed  by 
an  eloquence  which  almost  every  human  creature  can  find  in 
a  great  crisis,  "  We  have  the  most  brilliant  society  here, 
Monsieur  le  Vicomte.  You  will  be  able  to  judge  for  your- 
self, for  it  assembles  in  this  very  house;  on  some  of  our 
acquaintances  we  can  always  count ;  they  will  have  heard  of 
my  return  no  doubt,  and  will  be  sure  to  come  to  see  me. 
There  is  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  a  gentleman  of  the  old 
court,  a  man  of  infinite  wit  and  taste ;  then  there  is  Monsieur 
le  Marquis  d'Esgrignon  and  Mademoiselle  Armande,  his 
sister" — she  bit  her  lip  and  changed  her  mind — "a — a  re- 
markable woman  in  her  way.  '  She  refused  all  offers  of  mar- 
riage so  as  to  leave  her  fortune  to  her  brother  and  his  son." 

"Ah  !  yes;  the  d'Esgrignons,  I  remember  them,"  said  the 
vicomte. 

"Alen^on  is  very  gay,"  pursued  mademoiselle,  now  that 
she  had  fairly  started  off.  "  There  is  so  much  going  on  ;  the 
receiver-general  gives  dances ;  the  prefect  is  a  very  pleasant 
man ;  his  lordship  the  bishop  occasionally  honors  us  with  a 
visit " 

"  Come  !  "  said  the  vicomte,  smiling  as  he  spoke,  "  I  have 
done  well,  it  seems,  to  come  creeping  back  like  a  hare  (un 
Ktvre)  to  die  in  my  form." 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         113 

"It  is  the  same  with  me,"  replied  mademoiselle;   "I  am 
like  a  creeper  (le  lierre),  I  must  cling  to  something  or  die." 

The  vicomte  took  the  saying  thus  twisted  for  a  joke,  and 
smiled. 

"Ah  !  "   thought  his  hostess,  "that  is  all  right,  he  under- 
stands me." 

The  conversation  was  kept  up  upon  generalities.  Under 
pressure  of  a  strong  desire  to  please,  the  strange,  mysterious, 
indefinable  workings  of  consciousness  brought  all  the  Cheva- 
lier de  Valois'  tricks  of  speech  uppermost  in  Mile.  Cormon's 
brain.  It  fell  out,  as  it  sometimes  does  in  a  duel,  when  the 
devil  himself  seems  to  take  aim  ;  and  never  did  duelist  hit 
his  man  more  fairly  and  squarely  than  the  old  maid.  The 
Vicomte  de  Troisville  was  too  well  mannered  to  praise  the 
excellent  dinner,  but  his  silence  was  panegyric  in  itself!  As 
he  drank  the  delicious  wines  with  which  Jacquelin  plied  him, 
he  seemed  to  be  meeting  old  friends  with  the  liveliest  pleasure; 
for  your  true  amateur  does  not  applaud,  he  enjoys.  He  in- 
formed himself  curiously  of  the  prices  of  land,  houses,  and  sites  ; 
he  drew  from  mademoiselle  a  long  description  of  the  prop- 
erty between  the  Brillante  and  the  Sarthe.  He  was  amazed 
that  the  town  and  the  river  lay  so  far  apart,  and  showed 
the  greatest  interest  in  local  topography.  The  abb6  sat  silent, 
leaving  all  the  conversation  to  his  niece.  And,  in  truth, 
mademoiselle  considered  that  she  interested  M.  de  Troisville; 
he  smiled  graciously  at  her,  he  made  far  more  progress  with 
her  in  the  course  of  a  single  dinner  than  the  most  ardent  of 
her  former  wooers  in  a  whole  fortnight.  For  which  reasons, 
you  may  be  certain  that  never  was  guest  so  cosseted,  so  lap- 
ped about  with  small  attentions  and  observances.  He  might 
have  been  a  much-loved  lover,  newly  come  home  to  the  house 
of  which  he  was  the  delight. 

Mademoiselle   forestalled   his   wants.     She   saw   when    he 
needed  bread,  her  eyes  brooded  over  him;  if  he  turned  his 
head,  she  adroitly  supplemented  his  portion  of  any  dish  which 
8 


114         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

he  seemed  to  like ;  if  he  had  been  a  glutton,  she  would  have 
killed  him.  What  a  delicious  earnest  of  all  that  she  counted 
upon  doing  for  her  lover !  She  made  no  silly  blunders  of 
self-depreciation  this  time  !  She  went  gallantly  forward,  full 
sail,  and  all  flags  flying;  posed  as  the  queen  of  Alencon,  and 
vaunted  her  preserves.  Indeed,  she  fished  for  compliments, 
talking  about  herself  as  if  her  trumpeter  were  dead.  And  she 
saw  that  she  pleased  the  vicomte,  for  her  wish  to  please  had  so 
transformed  her  that  she  grew  almost  feminine.  It  was  not 
without  inward  exultation  that  she  heard  footsteps  while  they 
sat  at  dessert;  sounds  of  going  and  coming  in  the  antecham- 
ber and  noises  in  the  salon  ;  and  knew  that  the  usual  company 
was  arriving.  She  called  the  attention  of  her  uncle  and  M. 
de  Troisville  to  this  fact  as  a  proof  of  the  affection  in  which 
she  was  held,  whereas  it  really  was  a  symptom  of  the  paroxysm 
of  curiosity  which  convulsed  the  whole  town.  Impatient  to 
show  herself  in  her  glory,  she  ordered  coffee  and  the  liqueurs 
to  be  taken  to  the  salon,  whither  Jacquelin  went  to  display  to 
the  elite  of  Alencon  the  splendors  of  a  Dresden  china  service, 
which  only  left  the  cupboard  twice  in  a  twelvemonth.  All 
these  circumstances  were  noted  by  people  disposed  to  criticise 
under  their  breath. 

"Egad!"  cried  du  Bousquier,  "nothing  but  Madame 
Amphoux's  liqueurs,  which  only  come  out  on  the  four  great 
festival  days  !  " 

"  Decidedly,  this  match  must  have  been  arranged  by  cor- 
respondence for  a  year  past,"  said  M.  le  President  du  Ron- 
ceret.  "The  postmaster  here  has  been  receiving  letters  with 
an  Odessa  postmark  for  the  last  twelve  months." 

Mme.  Granson  shuddered.  M.  le  Chevalier  de  Valois  had 
eaten  a  heavy  dinner,  but  he  felt  the  pallor  spreading  over  his 
left  cheek;  felt,  too,  that  he  was  betraying  his  secret,  and 
said:  "It  is  cold  to-day,  do  you  not  think?  I  am  freez- 
ing." 

"  It  is  the  neighborhood  of  Russia,"  suggested  du  Bousquier. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         115 

And   the  chevalier  looked   at  his  rival  as  who  should  say : 
"Well  put  in!" 

Mile.  Cormon  was  so  radiant,  so  triumphant,  that  she 
looked  positively  handsome,  it  was  thought.  Nor  was  this 
unwonted  brilliancy  wholly  due  to  sentiment ;  ever  since  the 
morning  the  blood  had  been  surging  through  her  veins ;  the 
presentiments  of  a  great  crisis  at  hand  affected  her  nerves.  It 
needed  a  combination  of  circumstances  to  make  her  so  little 
like  herself.  With  what  joy  did  she  not  solemnly  introduce 
the  vicomte  to  the  chevalier,  and  the  chevalier  to  the  vicomte  ; 
all  Alencon  was  presented  to  M.  de  Troisville,  and  M.  de 
Troisville  made  the  acquaintance  of  all  Alencon.  It  fell  out, 
naturally  enough,  that  the  vicomte  and  the  chevalier,  two 
born  aristocrats,  were  in  sympathy  at  once ;  they  recognized 
each  other  for  inhabitants  of  the  same  social  sphere.  They 
began  to  chat  as  they  stood  by  the  fire.  A  circle  formed 
about  them  listening  devoutly  to  their  conversation,  though 
it  was  carried  on  sotto  voce.  Fully  to  realize  the  scene,  imagine 
Mile.  Cormon  standing  with  her  back  to  the  chimney-piece, 
busy  preparing  coffee  for  her  supposed  suitor. 

M.  DE  VALOIS.  "  So  Monsieur  le  Vicomte  is  coming  to 
settle  here,  people  say." 

M.  DE  TROISVILLE.  "  Yes,  monsieur.  I  have  come  to  look 
for  a  house."  {Mile.  Cormon  turns,  cup  in  hand.}  "And  I 
must  have  a  large  one  " — {Mile.  Cormon  offers  the  cup  of  coffee} 
— "  to  hold  my  family."  {The  room  grouts  dark  before  the  old 
maid's  eyes.} 

M.  DE  VALOIS.     "  Are  you  married  ?  " 

M.  DE  TROISVILLE.  "Yes,  I  have  been  married  for  sixteen 
years.  My  wife  is  the  daughter  of  the  Princess  Scherbelloff." 

Mile.  Cormon  dropped  like  one  thunderstruck.  Du  Bous- 
quier,  seeing  her  reel,  sprang  forward,  and  caught  her  in  his 
arms.  Somebody  opened  the  door  to  let  him  pass  out  with 
his  enormous  burden.  The  melted  Republican,  counseled  by 
Josette,  summoned  up  his  strength,  bore  the  old  maid  to  her 


116         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

room,  and  deposited  her  upon  the  bed.  Josette,  armed  with 
a  pair  of  scissors,  cut  the  stay-laces,  drawn  outrageously  tight. 
Du  Bousquier,  rough  and  ready,  dashed  cold  water  over  Mile. 
Cormon's  face  and  bust,  which  broke  from  its  bounds  like  the 
Loire  in  flood.  The  patient  opened  her  eyes,  saw  du  Bous- 
quier, and  gave  a  cry  of  alarmed  modesty.  Du  Bousquier 
withdrew,  leaving  half-a-dozen  women  in  possession,  with 
Mme.  Granson  at  their  head,  Mine.  Granson  beaming  with 
joy. 

What  had  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  done  ?  True  to  his  sys- 
tem, he  had  been  covering  the  retreat. 

"Poor  Mademoiselle  Cormon  !  "  he  said,  addressing  M. 
de  Troisville,  but  looking  round  the  room,  quelling  the  be- 
ginnings of  an  outbreak  of  laughter  with  his  haughty  eyes. 
"  She  is  dreadfully  troubled  with  heated  blood.  She  would 
not  be  bled  before  going  to  the  Prebaudet  (her  country  house), 
and  this  is  the  result  of  the  spring  weather." 

"  She  drove  over  in  the  rain  this  morning,"  said  the  Abbe 
de  Sponde.  "  She  may  have  taken  a  little  cold,  and  so 
caused  the  slight  derangement  of  the  system  to  which  she  is 
subject.  But  she  will  soon  get  over  it." 

"  She  was  telling  me  the  day  before  yesterday  that  she  had 
not  had  a  recurrence  of  it  for  three  months  ;  she  added  at  the 
time  that  it  was  sure  to  play  her  a  bad  turn,"  added  the 
chevalier. 

"Ah  !  so  you  are  married  !  "  thought  Jacquelin,  watching 
M.  de  Troisville,  who  was  sipping  his  coffee. 

The  faithful  manservant  made  his  mistress'  disappointment 
his  own.  He  guessed  her  feelings.  He  took  away  the  liqueurs 
brought  out  for  a  bachelor,  and  not  for  a  Russian  woman's 
husband.  All  these  little  things  were  noticed  with  amusement. 

The  Abb6  de  Sponde  had  known  all  along  why  M.  de  Trois- 
ville had  come  to  Alencon,  but  in  his  absent-mindedness  he 
had  said  nothing  about  it ;  it  had  never  entered  his  mind  that 
his  niece  could  take  the  slightest  interest  in  that  gentleman. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        117 

As  for  the  vicomte,  he  was  engrossed  by  the  object  of  his 
journey;  like  many  other  married  men,  he  was  in  no  great 
hurry  to  introduce  his  wife  into  the  conversation  ;  he  had  had 
no  opportunity  of  saying  that  he  was  married  ;  and  beside,  he 
thought  that  Mile.  Cormon  knew  his  history.  Du  Bousquier  re- 
appeared, and  was  questioned  without  mercy.  One  of  the  six 
women  came  down,  and  reported  that  Mile.  Cormon  was  feel- 
ing much  better,  and  that  her  doctor  had  come ;  but  she  was  to 
stay  in  bed,  and  it  appeared  that  she  ought  to  be  bled  at  once. 
The  salon  soon  filled.  In  Mile.  Cormon's  absence,  the  ladies 
were  free  to  discuss  the  tragic-comic  scene  which  had  just 
taken  place ;  and  duly  they  enlarged,  annotated,  embellished, 
colored,  adorned,  embroidered,  and  bedizened  the  tale  which 
was  to  set  all  Alencon  thinking  of  the  disappointed  old  maid  on 
the  morrow. 

Meanwhile,  Josette  upstairs  was  saying  to  her  mistress, 
"  That  good  Monsieur  du  Bousquier  !  How  he  carried  you 
upstairs  !  What  a  fist !  Really,  your  illness  made  him  quite 
pale.  He  loves  you  still." 

And  with  this  final  phrase,  the  solemn  and  terrible  day 
came  to  a  close. 

Next  day,  all  morning  long,  the  news  of  the  comedy,  with 
full  details,  circulated  over  Alencon,  raising  laughter  every- 
where, to  the  shame  of  the  town  be  it  said.  Next  day,  Mile. 
Cormon,  very  much  the  better  for  the  blood-letting,  would 
have  seemed  sublime  to  the  most  hardened  of  those  who  jeered 
at  her,  if  they  could  but  have  seen  her  noble  dignity  and  the 
Christian  resignation  in  her  soul,  as  she  gave  her  hand  to  the 
unconscious  perpetrator  of  the  hoax,  and  went  in  to  breakfast. 
Ah !  heartless  wags,  who  were  laughing  at  her  expense,  why 
could  you  not  hear  her  say  to  the  vicomte — 

"Madame  de  Troisville  will  have  some  difficulty  in  rinding 
a  house  to  suit  her.  Do  me  the  favor  of  using  my  house, 
monsieur,  until  you  have  made  all  your  arrangements." 


118         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"But  I  have  two  girls  and  two  boys,  mademoiselle.  We 
should  put  you  to  a  great  deal  of  inconvenience." 

"  Do  not  refuse  me,"  said  she,  her  eyes  full  of  apprehension 
and  regret. 

"  I  made  the  offer,  however  you  might  decide,  in  my  letter ; 
but  you  did  not  take  it,"  remarked  the  abbe. 

"What,  uncle!  did  you  know? " 

Poor  thing,  she  broke  off.  Josette  heaved  a  sigh,  and 
neither  M.  de  Troisville  nor  the  uncle  noticed  anything. 

After  breakfast,  the  Abbe  de  Sponde,  carrying  out  the  plan 
agreed  upon  over  night,  took  the  vicomte  to  see  houses  for 
sale  and  suitable  sites  for  building.  Mile.  Cormon  was  left 
alone  in  the  salon. 

"  I  am  the  talk  of  the  town,  child,  by  this  time,"  she  said, 
looking  piteously  at  Josette. 

"Well,  mademoiselle,  get  married." 

"  But,  my  girl,  I  am  not  at  all  prepared  to  make  a  choice." 

"Bah!  I  should  take  Monsieur  du  Bousquier  if  I  were 
you." 

"  Monsieur  de  Valois  says  that  he  is  such  a  Republican, 
Josette." 

"Your  gentlemen  don't  know  what  they  are  talking  about ; 
they  say  that  he  robbed  the  Republic,  so  he  can't  have  been 
at  all  fond  of  it,"  said  Josette,  and  with  that  she  went. 

"That  girl  is  amazingly  shrewd,"  thought  Mile.  Cormon, 
left  alone  to  her  gnawing  perplexity. 

She  saw  that  the  only  way  of  silencing  talk  was  to  marry 
at  once.  This  last  so  patently  humiliating  check  was  enough 
to  drive  her  to  extreme  measures ;  and  it  takes  a  great  deal  to 
force  a  feeble-minded  human  being  out  of  a  groove,  be  it  good 
or  bad.  Both  the  old  bachelors  understood  the  position  of 
affairs,  both  made  up  their  minds  to  call  in  the  morning  to 
make  inquiries,  and  (in  their  own  language)  to  press  the 
point. 

M.    de  Valois  considered   that   the  occasion    demanded  a 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        119 

scrupulous  toilet ;  he  took  a  bath,  he  groomed  himself  with 
unusual  care,  and  for  the  first  time  and  the  last  Cesarine 
saw  him  applying  "a  suspicion  of  rouge"  with  incredible 
skill. 

Du  Bousquier,  rough  and  ready  Republican  that  he  was,  in- 
spired by  dogged  purpose,  paid  no  attention  to  his  appearance, 
he  hurried  round,  and  came  in  first.  The  fate  of  men,  like 
the  destinies  of  empires,  hangs  on  small  things.  History 
records  all  such  principal  causes  of  great  failure  or  success — a 
Kellermann's  charge  at  Marengo,  a  Bliicher  coming  up  at  the 
battle  of  Waterloo,  a  Prince  Eugene  slighted  by  Louis  XIV., 
a  cure  on  the  battlefield  of  Denain  ;  but  nobody  profits  by 
the  lesson  to  be  diligently  attentive  to  the  little  trifles  of  his 
own  life.  Behold  the  results.  The  Duchesse  de  Langeais  in 
"The  Thirteen  "  entering  a  convent  for  want  of  ten  minutes' 
patience;  Judge  Popinot  in  "The  Commission  in  Lunacy" 
putting  off  his  inquiries  as  to  the  Marquis  d'Espard  till  to- 
morrow ;  Charles  Grandet  coming  home  by  way  of  Bordeaux 
instead  of  Nantes — and  these  things  are  said  to  happen  by 
accident  and  mere  chance!  The  few  moments  spent  in 
putting  on  that  suspicion  of  rouge  wrecked  M.  de  Valois' 
hopes.  Only  in  such  a  way  could  the  chevalier  have  suc- 
cumbed. He  had  lived  for  the  Graces,  he  was  foredoomed 
to  die  through  them.  Even  as  he  gave  a  last  look  in  the 
mirror,  the  burly  du  Bousquier  was  entering  the  disconsolate 
old  maid's  drawing-room.  His  entrance  coincided  with  a 
gleam  of  favor  in  the  lady's  mind,  though  in  the  course  of 
her  deliberations  the  chevalier  had  decidedly  had  the 
advantage. 

"It  is  God's  will,"  she  said  to  herself  when  du  Bousquier 
appeared. 

"  Mademoiselle,  I  trust  you  will  not  take  my  importunity  in 
bad  part ;  I  did  not  like  to  trust  that  great  stupid  of  a  Rene 
to  make  inquiries,  and  came  myself." 

"I  am  perfectly  well,"  she  said  nervously;  then,  after  a 


120         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

pause,  and  in  a  very  emphatic  tone,  "Thank  you,  Monsieur 
du  Bousquier,  for  the  trouble  that  you  took  and  that  I  gave 
you  yesterday " 

She  recollected  how  she  had  lain  in  du  Bousquier's  arms, 
and  the  accident  seemed  to  her  to  be  a  direct  order  from 
heaven.  For  the  first  time  in  her  life  a  man  had  seen  her 
with  her  belt  wrenched  apart,  her  stay-laces  cut,  the  jewel 
shaken  violently  out  of  its  case. 

"  I  was  so  heartily  glad  to  carry  you  that  I  thought  you  a 
light  weight,"  said  he. 

At  this  Mile.  Cormon  looked  at  du  Bousquier  as  she  never 
looked  at  any  man  in  the  world  before  ;  and  thus  encouraged, 
the  ex-contractor  for  forage  flung  a  side-glance  that  went 
straight  to  the  old  maid's  heart. 

"  It  is  a  pity,"  added  he,  "  that  this  has  not  given  me  the 
right  to  keep  you  always."  (She  was  listening  with  rapture  in 
her  face.)  "You  looked  dazzling  as  you  lay  swooning  there 
on  the  bed ;  I  never  saw  such  a  fine  woman  in  my  life,  and  I 
have  seen  a  good  many.  There  is  this  about  a  stout  woman, 
she  is  superb  to  look  at,  she  has  only  to  show  herself,  she 
triumphs." 

"  You  mean  to  laugh  at  me,"  said  the  old  maid;  "that  is 
not  kind  of  you,  when  the  whole  town  is  perhaps  putting  a 
malicious  and  bad  construction  on  things  that  happened  here 
yesterday." 

"It  is  as  true  as  that  my  name  is  du  Bousquier,  made- 
moiselle. My  feelings  toward  you  have  never  changed ;  your 
first  rejection  did  not  discourage  me." 

The  old  maid  lowered  her  eyes.  There  was  a  pause,  a  pain- 
ful ordeal  for  du  Bousquier.  Then  Mile.  Cormon  made  up 
her  mind  and  raised  her  eyelids ;  she  looked  up  tenderly  at 
du  Bousquier  through  her  tears. 

"Jf  this  is  so,  monsieur,"  she  said,  in  a  tremulous  voice, 
"  I  only  ask  you  to  allow  me  to  lead  a  Christian  life,  do  not  ask 
me  to  change  any  of  my  habits  as  to  religion,  leave  me  free  to 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  tOWX.        121 

choose  my  spiritual  directors,  and  I  will  give  you  my  hand," 
holding  it  out  to  him  as  she  spoke. 

Du  Bousquier  caught  the  plump,  honest  hand  that  held  so 
many  francs,  and  kissed  it  respectfully. 

"  But  I  have  one  thing  more  to  ask,"  added  Mile.  Cormon, 
suffering  him  to  kiss  her  hand. 

"It  is  granted,  and  if  it  is  impossible,  it  shall  be  done" 
(a  reminiscence  of  Beaujon). 

"Alas!  "  began  the  old  maid,  "for  love  of  me  you  must 
burden  your  soul  with  a  sin  which  I  know  is  heinous ;  false- 
hood is  one  of  the  seven  deadly  sins ;  but  still  you  can  make 
confession,  can  you  not?  We  will  both  of  us  do  penance." 
They  looked  tenderly  at  each  other  at  those  words. 

"  Perhaps,"  continued  Mile.  Cormon,  "  after  all,  it  is  one 
of  those  deceptions  which  the  church  calls  venial " 

"Is  she  going  to  tell  me  that  she  is  in  Suzanne's  plight?" 

thought  du  Bousquier.  "What  luck! "  Aloud  he  said, 

"Well,  mademoiselle?" 

"And  you  must  take  it  upon  you " 

"What?" 

"  To  say  that  this  marriage  was  agreed  upon  between  us  six 
months  ago." 

"Charming  woman!"  exclaimed  the  forage-contractor, 
and  by  his  manner  he  implied  that  he  was  prepared  to  make 
even  this  sacrifice;  "a  man  only  does  thus  for  the  woman 
he  has  worshiped  for  ten  years." 

"In  spite  of  my  severity?  "  asked  she. 

"Yes,  in  spite  of  your  severity." 

"  Monsieur  du  Bousquier,  I  have  misjudged  you."  Again 
she  held  out  her  big,  red  hand,  and  again  du  Bousquier 
kissed  it. 

At  that  very  moment  the  door  opened,  and  the  betrothed 
couple,  turning  their  heads,  perceived  the  charming  but  too 
tardy  chevalier. 

"Ah  !  fair  queen,"  said  he,  "so  you  have  risen?" 


122         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Mile.  Cormon  smiled  at  him,  and  .something  clutched  at 
her  heart.  M.  de  Valois,  grown  remarkably  young  and  irre- 
sistible, looked  like  Lauzun  entering  La  Grande  Mademoi- 
selle's apartments. 

"Ah  !  my  dear  du  Bousquier !  "  he  continued,  half  laugh- 
ingly, so  sure  was  he  of  success.  "Monsieur  de  Troisville 
and  the  Abbe  de  Sponde  are  in  front  of  your  house,  looking  it 
over  like  a  pair  of  surveyors." 

"On  my  word,"  said  du  Bousquier,  "if  the  Vicomte  de 
Troisville  wants  it,  he  can  have  it  for  forty  thousand  francs. 
It  is  of  no  use  whatever  to  me.  Always,  if  mademoiselle  has 
no  objection,  that  must  be  ascertained  first.  Mademoiselle, 
may  I  tell?  Yes?  Very  well,  my  dear  chevalier,  you  shall  be 
the  first  to  hear" — Mile.  Cormon  dropped  her  eyes — "of  the 
honor  and  the  favor  that  mademoiselle  is  doing  me ;  I  have 
kept  it  a  secret  for  more  than  six  months.  We  are  going  to  be 
married  in  a  very  few  days,  the  contract  is  drawn  up,  we  shall 
sign  it  to-morrow.  So,  you  see,  that  I  have  no  further  use  for 
my  house  in  the  Rue  du  Cygne.  I  am  quietly  on  the  lookout 
for  a  purchaser ;  and  the  Abbe  de  Sponde,  who  knew  this, 
naturally  took  Monsieur  du  Troisville  to  see  it." 

There  was  such  a  color  of  truth  about  this  monstrous  fib 
that  the  chevalier  was  quite  taken  in  by  it.  My  dear  chevalier 
was  a  return  for  all  preceding  defeats;  it  was  like  the  victory 
won  at  Pultowa  by  Peter  the  Great  over  Charles  XII.  And 
thus  du  Bousquier  enjoyed  a  delicious  revenge  for  hundreds  of 
pin-pricks  endured  in  silence ;  but  in  his  triumph  he  forgot 
that  he  was  not  a  young  man,  he  passed  his  fingers  through 
the  false  toupet,  and — it  came  off  in  his  hand  ! 

"  I  congratulate  you  both,"  said  the  chevalier,  with  an 
agreeable  smile;  "I  wish  that  you  may  end  like  the  fairy 
stories,  '  They  lived  very  happily  and  had  a  fine— /amity  of 
children\  '  "  Here  he  shaped  a  cone  of  snuff  in  his  palm 
before  adding  mockingly,  "  But,  monsieur,  you  forgot  that — 
er — you  wear  borrowed  plumes." 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        123 

Du  Bousquier  reddened.  The  false  toupet  was  ten  inches 
awry.  Mile.  Cormon  raised  her  eyes  to  the  face  of  her  be- 
trothed, saw  the  bare  cranium,  and  bashfully  looked  down 
again.  Never  toad  looked  more  venomously  at  a  victim  than 
du  Bousquier  at  the  chevalier. 

"  A  pack  of  aristocrats  that  look  down  on  me  !"  he  thought. 
"I  will  crush  you  all  some  of  these  days." 

The  Chevalier  de  Valois  imagined  that  he  had  regained  all 
the  lost  ground.  But  Mile.  Cormon  was  not  the  woman  to 
understand  the  connection  between  the  chevalier's  congratu- 
lation and  the  allusion  to  the  false  toupet ;  and,  for  that  mat- 
ter, even  if  she  had  understood,  her  hand  had  been  given. 
M.  de  Valois  saw  too  clearly  that  all  was  lost.  Meantime,  as 
the  two  men  stood  without  speaking,  Mile.  Cormon  innocently 
studied  how  to  amuse  them. 

"Play  a  game  of  reversis,"  suggested  she,  without  any 
malicious  intention. 

Du  Bousquier  smiled,  and  went  as  future  master  of  the  house 
for  the  card-table.  Whether  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  had  lost 
his  head,  or  whether  he  chose  to  remain  to  study  the  causes 
of  his  defeat  and  to  remedy  it,  certain  it  is  that  he  allowed 
himself  to  be  led  like  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter.  But  he  had 
just  received  the  heaviest  of  all  bludgeon  blows ;  and  a  noble 
might  have  been  excused  if  he  had  been  at  any  rate  stunned 
by  it.  Very  soon  the  worthy  Abbe  de  Sponde  and  M.  de 
Troisville  returned,  and  at  once  Mile.  Cormon  hurried  into 
the  antechamber,  took  her  uncle  aside,  and  told  him  in  a 
whisper  of  her  decision.  Then,  hearing  that  the  house  in  the 
Rue  du  Cygne  suited  M.  de  Troisville,  she  begged  her  be- 
trothed to  do  her  the  service  of  saying  that  her  uncle  knew 
that  the  place  was  for  sale.  She  dared  not  confide  the  fib  to 
the  abbe,  for  fear  that  he  should  forget.  The  falsehood  was 
destined  to  prosper  better  than  if  it  had  been  a  virtuous  action. 
All  Alenc.on  heard  the  great  news  that  night.  For  four  days 
the  town  had  found  as  much  to  say  as  in  the  ominous  days  of 


124         THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

1814  and  1815.  Some  laughed  at  the  idea,  others  thought  it 
true ;  some  condemned,  others  approved  the  marriage.  The 
bourgeoisie  of  Alencon  regarded  it  as  a  conquest,  and  they 
were  the  best  pleased. 

The  Chevalier  de  Valois,  next  day,  among  his  own  circle, 
brought  out  this  cruel  epigram  :  "  The  Cormons  are  ending  as 
they  began;  stewards  and  contractors  are  all  on  a  footing." 

The  news  of  Mile.  Cormon's  choice  went  to  poor  Athanase's 
heart ;  but  he  showed  not  a  sign  of  the  dreadful  tumult  surg- 
ing within.  He  had  heard  of  the  marriage  at  President  du 
Ronceret's  while  his  mother  was  playing  a  game  of  boston. 
Mine.  Granson,  looking  up,  saw  her  son's  face  in  the  glass ; 
he  looked  white,  she  thought,  but  then  he  had  been  pale  ever 
since  vague  rumors  had  reached  him  in  the  morning.  Mile. 
Cormon  was  the  card  on  which  Athanase  staked  his  life,  and 
chill  presentiments  of  impending  catastrophe  already  wrapped 
him  about.  When  intellect  and  imagination  have  exaggerated 
a  calamity  till  it  becomes  a  burden  too  heavy  for  shoulders 
and  brow  to  bear,  when  some  long-cherished  hope  fails  utterly, 
and  with  it  the  visions  which  enable  a  man  to  forget  the  fierce 
vulture-cares  gnawing  at  his  heart ;  then,  if  that  man  has  no 
belief  in  himself,  in  spite  of  his  powers;  no  belief  in  the 
future,  in  spite  of  the  Power  Divine — he  is  broken  in  pieces. 
Athanase  was  a  product  of  education  under  the  Empire. 
Fatalism,  the  Emperor's  creed,  spread  downward  to  the  lowest 
ranks  of  the  army,  to  the  very  schoolboys  at  their  desks. 
Athanase  followed  Mme.  du  Ronceret's  play  with  a  stolidity 
which  might  so  easily  have  been  taken  for  indifference,  that 
Mme.  Granson  fancied  she  had  been  mistaken  as  to  her  son's 
feelings. 

Athanase's  apparent  carelessness  explained  his  refusal  to 
sacrifice  his  so-called  "Liberal"  opinions.  This  word,  then 
recently  coined  for  the  Emperor  Alexander,  proceeded  into 
the  language,  I  believe,  by  way  of  Mme.  de  Stae'l  through 
Benjamin  Constant. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        125 

After  that  fatal  evening  the  unhappy  young  man  took  to 
haunting  one  of  the  most  picturesque  walks  along  the  Sarthe ; 
every  artist  who  comes  to  Alencon  sketches  it  from  that  point 
of  view,  for  the  sake  of  the  water-mills,  and  the  river  gleaming 
brightly  out  among  the  fields,  between  the  shapely  well-grown 
trees  on  either  side.  Flat  though  the  land  may  be,  it  lacks 
none  of  the  subdued  peculiar  charm  of  French  landscape  ;  for 
in  France  your  eyes  are  never  wearied  by  glaring  Eastern  sun- 
light, nor  saddened  by  too  continual  mist.  It  is  a  lonely  spot. 
Dwellers  in  the  provinces  care  nothing  for  beautiful  scenery, 
perhaps  because  it  is  always  about  them,  perhaps  because  there 
is  a  sense  lacking  in  them.  If  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a 
promenade,  a  mall,  or  any  spot  from  which  you  see  a  beautiful 
view,  it  is  sure  to  be  the  one  unfrequented  part  of  the  town. 
Athanase  liked  the  loneliness,  with  the  water  like  a  living 
presence  in  it,  and  the  fields  just  turning  green  in  the  warmth 
of  the  early  spring  sunlight.  Occasionally  some  one  who  had 
seen  him  sitting  at  a  poplar  foot,  and  received  an  intent  gaze 
from  his  eyes,  would  speak  to  Mme.  Granson  about  him. 

"  There  is  something  the  matter  with  your  son." 

"I  know  what  he  is  about,"  the  mother  would  say  with  a 
satisfied  air;  hinting  that  he  was  meditating  some  great  work. 

Athanase  meddled  no  more  in  politics ;  he  had  no  opinions; 
and  yet,  now  and  again,  he  was  merry  enough,  merry  at  the 
expense  of  others,  after  the  wont  of  those  who  stand  alone  and 
apart  in  contempt  of  public  opinion.  The  young  fellow  lived 
so  entirely  outside  the  horizon  of  provincial  ideas  and  amuse- 
ments that  he  was  interesting  to  few  people ;  he  did  not  so 
much  as  rouse  curiosity.  Those  who  spoke  of  him  to  his 
mother  did  so  for  her  sake,  not  for  his.  Not  a  creature  in 
Alencon  sympathized  with  Athanase;  the  Sarthe  received  the 
tears  which  no  friend,  no  loving  woman  dried.  If  the  magnifi- 
cent Suzanne  had  chanced  to  pass  that  way,  how  much  misery 
might  have  been  prevented — the  two  young  creatures  would 
have  fallen  in  love. 


126         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

And  yet  Suzanne  certainly  passed  that  way.  Her  ambition 
had  been  first  awakened  by  a  sufficiently  marvelous  tale  of 
things  which  happened  in  1799;  an  old  story  of  adventures 
begun  at  the  sign  of  the  Three  Moors  had  turned  her  childish 
brain.  They  used  to  tell  how  an  adventuress,  beautiful  as  an 
angel,  had  come  from  Paris  with  a  commission  from  Fouche 
to  ensnare  the  Marquis  de  Montauran,  the  Chouan  leader  sent 
over  by  the  Bourbons ;  how  she  met  him  at  that  very  inn  of 
the  Three  Moors  as  he  came  back  from  his  Mortagne  expe- 
dition ;  and  how  she  won  his  love,  and  gave  him  up  to  his 
enemies.  The  romantic  figure  of  this  woman,  the  power  of 
beauty,  the  whole  story  of  Marie  de  Verneuil  and  the  Marquis 
de  Montauran,  dazzled  Suzanne,  till,  as  she  grew  older,  she 
too  longed  to  play  with  men's  lives.  A  few  months  after  her 
flight,  she  could  not  resist  the  desire  to  see  her  native  place 
again,  on  her  way  to  Brittany  with  an  artist.  She  wanted  to 
see  Fougeres,  where  the  Marquis  de  Montauran  met  his  death  ; 
and  thought  of  making  a  pilgrimage  to  the  scenes  of  stories 
told  to  her  in  childhood  of  that  war  in  the  West,  so  little 
known  even  yet.  She  wished,  beside,  to  revisit  Alencon  with 
such  splendor  in  her  surroundings,  and  so  completely  meta- 
morphosed, that  nobody  should  know  her  again.  She  intended 
to  put  her  mother  beyond  the  reach  of  want  in  one  moment, 
and,  in  some  tactful  way,  to  send  a  sum  of  money  to  poor 
Athanase — a  sum  which  for  genius  in  modern  days  is  the 
equivalent  of  a  Rebecca's  gift  of  horse  and  armor  to  an 
Ivanhoe  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

A  month  went  by.  Opinions  as  to  Mile.  Cormon's  mar- 
riage fluctuated  in  the  strangest  way.  There  was  an  incredulous 
section  which  strenuously  denied  the  truth  of  the  report,  and 
a  party  of  believers  who  persistently  affirmed  it.  At  the  end 
of  fourteen  days,  the  doubters  received  a  severe  check.  Du 
Bousquier's  house  was  sold  to  M.  de  Troisville  for  forty-three- 
thousand  francs.  M.  de  Troisville  meant  to  live  quite  quietly 
in  Alencon ;  he  intended  to  return  to  Paris  after  the  death  of 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        127 

the  Princess  Scherbelloff,  but  until  the  inheritance  fell  in  he 
would  spend  his  time  in  looking  after  his  estates.  This  much 
appeared  to  be  fact.  But  the  doubting  faction  declined  to  be 
crushed.  Their  assertion  was  that,  married  or  not,  du  Bous- 
quier  had  done  a  capital  stroke  of  business,  for  his  house  only 
stood  him  in  a  matter  of  twenty-seven  thousand  francs.  The 
believers  were  taken  aback  by  this  peremptory  decision  on  the 
part  of  their  opponents.  "Choisnel,  Mademoiselle  Cormon's 
notary,  had  not  heard  a  word  of  marriage  settlements,"  added 
the  incredulous. 

But  on  the  twentieth  day  the  unshaken  believers  enjoyed  a 
signal  victory  over  the  doubters.  M.  Lepresseur,  the  Liberal 
notary,  went  to  Mile.  Cormon's  house,  and  the  contract  was 
signed.  This  was  the  first  of  many  sacrifices  which  Rose 
made  to  her  husband.  The  fact  was  that  du  Bousquier  de- 
tested Choisnel ;  he  blamed  the  notary  for  Mile.  Armande's 
refusal  in  the  first  place,  as  well  as  for  his  previous  rejection 
by  Mile.  Cormon,  who,  as  he  believed,  had  followed  Mile. 
Armande's  example.  He  managed  Mile.  Cormon  so  well, 
that  she,  noble-hearted  woman,  believing  that  she  had  mis- 
judged her  future  husband,  wished  to  make  reparation  for  her 
doubts,  and  sacrifice  her  notary  to  her  love.  Still  she  sub- 
mitted the  contract  to  Choisnel,  and  he — a  man  worthy  of 
Plutarch — defended  Mile.  Cormon's  interests  by  letter.  This 
was  the  one  cause  of  delay. 

Mile.  Cormon  received  a  good  many  anonymous  letters. 
She  was  informed,  to  her  no  small  astonishment,  that  Suzanne 
was  as  honest  a  woman  as  she  was  herself;  and  that  the 
seducer  in  the  false  toupet  could  not  possibly  have  played  the 
part  assigned  to  him  in  such  an  adventure.  Mile.  Cormon 
scorned  anonymous  letters;  she  wrote,  however,  to  Suzanne 
with  a  view  to  gaining  light  on  the  creeds  of  the  Maternity 
Society.  Suzanne  probably  had  heard  of  du  Bousquier's  ap- 
proaching marriage;  she  confessed  to  her  stratagem,  sent  a 
thousand  francs  to  the  Fund,  and  damaged  the  forage-con- 


128         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

tractor's  character  very  considerably.  Mile.  Cormon  called 
an  extraordinary  meeting  of  the  Maternity  Charity,  and  the 
assembled  matrons  passed  a  resolution  that  hencefoward  the 
Fund  should  give  help  after  and  not  before  misfortunes  be- 
fell. 

In  spite  of  these  proceedings,  which  supplied  the  town  with 
titbits  of  gossip  to  discuss,  the  banns  were  published  at  the 
church  and  the  mayor's  office.  It  was  Athanase's  duty  to 
make  out  the  needful  documents.  The  betrothed  bride  had 
gone  to  the  Prebaudet,  a  measure  taken  partly  by  way  of  con- 
ventional modesty,  partly  for  general  security.  Thither  du 
Bousquier  went  every  morning,  fortified  by  atrocious  and 
sumptuous  bouquets,  returning  in  the  evening  to  dinner. 

At  last,  one  gray  rainy  day  in  June,  the  wedding  took 
place  ;  and  Mile.  Cormon  and  the  Sieur  du  Bousquier,  as  the 
incredulous  faction  called  him,  were  married  at  the  parish 
church  in  the  sight  of  all  Alenc.on.  Bride  and  bridegroom 
drove  to  the  mayor's  office,  and  afterward  to  the  church,  in  a 
caleche — a  splendid  equipage  for  Alenc.on.  Du  Bousquier 
had  it  sent  privately  from  Paris.  The  loss  of  the  old  cariole 
was  a  kind  of  calamity  for  the  whole  town.  The  saddler  of 
the  Porte  de  Secz  lost  an  income  of  fifty  francs  per  annum  for 
repairs ;  he  lifted  up  his  voice  and  wept.  With  dismay  the 
town  of  Alencon  beheld  the  luxury  introduced  by  the  Maison 
Cormon ;  every  one  feared  a  rise  of  prices  all  round,  an  in- 
crease of  house  rent,  an  invasion  of  Paris  furniture.  There 
were  some  whose  curiosity  pricked  them  to  the  point  of  giving 
Jacquelin  ten  sous  for  a  nearer  sight  of  so  startling  an  innova- 
tion in  a  thrifty  province.  A  pair  of  Normandy  horses  like- 
wise caused  much  concern. 

"  If  we  buy  horses  for  ourselves  in  this  way,  we  shall  not 
sell  them  long  to  those  that  come  to  buy  of  us,"  said  du 
Ronceret's  set. 

The  reasoning  seemed  profound,  stupid  though  it  was,  in 
so  far  as  it  prevented  the  district  from  securing  a  monopoly  of 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        129 

money  from  outside.  In  the  political  economy  of  the  prov- 
inces the  wealth  of  nations  consists  not  so  much  in  a  brisk 
circulation  of  money  as  in  hoards  of  unproductive  coin. 

At  length  the  old  maid's  fatal  wish  was  fulfilled.  Penelope 
sank  under  the  attack  of  pleurisy  contracted  forty  days  before 
the  wedding.  Nothing  could  save  her.  Mme.  Granson, 
Mariette,  Mme.  du  Coudrai,  Mme.  du  Ronceret — the  whole 
town,  in  fact — noticed  that  the  bride  came  into  church  with 
the  left  foot  foremost,  an  omen  all  the  more  alarming  because 
the  word  Left  even  than  had  acquired  a  political  significance. 

The  officiating  priest  chanced  to  open  the  mass-book  at  the 
De profundis.  And  so  the  wedding  passed  off,  amid  presages 
so  ominous,  so  gloomy,  so  overwhelming,  that  nobody  was 
found  to  augur  well  of  it.  Things  went  from  bad  to  worse. 
There  was  no  attempt  at  a  wedding-party ;  the  bride  and 
bridegroom  started  out  for  the  Prebaudet.  Paris  fashions 
were  to  supplant  old  customs  !  In  the  evening  Alenc.on  said 
its  say  as  to  all  these  absurdities  ;  some  persons  had  reckoned 
upon  one  of  the  usual  provincial  jollifications,  which  they  con- 
sidered they  had  a  right  to  expect,  and  these  spoke  their 
minds  pretty  freely.  But  Mariette  and  Jacquelin  had  a  merry 
wedding,  and  they  alone  in  all  Alenc.on  gainsaid  the  dismal 
prophecies. 

Du  Bousquier  wished  to  spend  the  profit  made  by  the  sale 
of  his  house  on  restoring  and  modernizing  the  Cormon  place. 
He  had  quite  made  up  his  mind  to  stay  for  some  months  at  the 
Prebaudet,  whither  he  brought  his  Uncle  de  Sponde.  The 
news  spead  dismay  through  Alenc.on  ;  every  one  felt  that  du 
Bousquier  was  about  to  draw  the  country  into  the  downward 
path  of  domestic  comfort.  The  foreboding  grew  to  a  fear 
one  morning  when  du  Bousquier  drove  over  from  the  Pre- 
baudet to  superintend  his  workmen  at  the  Val-Noble ;  and  the 
townspeople  beheld  a  tilbury,  harnessed  to  a  new  horse,  and 
Rend  in  livery  by  his  master's  side.  Du  Bousquier  had  in- 
vested his  wife's  savings  in  the  Funds  which  stood  at  sixty- 
9 


130         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

seven  francs  fifty  centimes.  This  was  the  first  act  of  the  new 
administration.  In  the  space  of  one  year,  by  constantly 
speculating  for  a  rise,  he  made  for  himself  a  fortune  almost  as 
considerable  as  his  wife's.  But  something  else  happened  in 
connection  with  this  marriage  to  make  it  seem  yet  more  inaus- 
picious, and  put  all  previous  overwhelming  portents  and  alarm- 
ing innovations  into  the  background. 

It  was  the  evening  of  the  wedding-day.  Athanase  and  his 
mother  were  sitting  in  the  salon  by  the  little  fire  of  brush- 
wood (or  regalades,  as  they  say  in  the  patois),  which  the  ser- 
vant had  lighted  after  dinner. 

"Well,"  said  Mme.  Granson,  "we  will  go  to  President 
du  Ronceret's  to-night,  now  that  we  have  no  Mademoiselle 
Cormon.  Goodness  me  !  I  shall  never  get  used  to  calling  her 
Madame  du  Bousquier;  that  name  makes  my  lips  sore." 

Athanase  looked  at  his  mother  with  a  sad  constraint ;  he  could 
not  smile,  and  he  wanted  to  acknowledge,  as  it  were,  the  art- 
less thoughtfulness  which  soothed  the  wound  it  could  not 
heal. 

"Mamma,"  he  began — it  was  several  years  since  he  had 
used  that  word,  and  his  tones  were  so  gentle  that  they  sounded 
like  his  child's  voice — "mamma,  dear,  do  not  let  us  go  out 
just  yet ;  it  is  so  nice  hese  by  the  fire  !  " 

It  was  a  supreme  cry  of  mortal  anguish ;  the  mother  heard 
it  but  did  not  understand. 

"Let  us  stay,  child,"  she  said.  "I  would  certaintly 
rather  talk  with  you  and  listen  to  your  plans  than  play  at 
boston  and  perhaps  lose  my  money." 

"You  are  beautiful  to-night;  I  like  to  look  at  you.  And 
beside,  the  current  of  my  thoughts  is  in  harmony  with  this 
poor  little  room,  where  we  have  been  through  so  much  trouble 
— you  and  I." 

"And  there  is  still  more  in  store  for  us,  poor  Athanase, 
until  your  work  succeeds.  For  my  own  part,  I  am  used  to 
poverty ;  but,  oh,  my  treasure,  to  look  on  and  see  your  youth 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        131 

go  by  while  you  have  no  joy  of  it !  Nothing  but  work  in 
your  life  !  That  thought  is  like  a  disease  for  a  mother.  It 
tortures  me  night  and  morning.  I  wake  up  to  it.  Ah,  God 
in  heaven  !  what  have  I  done  ?  What  sin  of  mine  is  punished 
with  this?" 

She  left  her  seat,  took  a  little  chair,  and  sat  down  beside 
Athanase,  nestling  close  up  to  his  side,  till  she  could  lay  her 
head  on  her  child's  breast.  Where  a  mother  is  truly  a  mother, 
the  grace  of  love  never  dies.  Athanase  kissed  her  on  the  eyes, 
on  the  gray  hair,  on  the  forehead,  with  the  reverent  love  that 
fain  would  lay  the  soul  where  the  lips  are  laid. 

"I  shall  never  succeed,"  he  said,  trying  to  hide  the  fatal 
purpose  which  he  was  revolving  in  his  mind. 

"  Pooh  !  you  are  not  going  to  be  discouraged  ?  Mind  can 
do  all  things,  as  you  say.  With  ten  bottles  of  ink,  ten  reams 
of  paper,  and  a  strong  will,  Luther  turned  Europe  upside 
down.  Well,  and  you  are  going  to  make  a  great  name  for 
yourself;  you  are  going  to  use  to  good  ends  the  powers  which 
he  used  for  evil.  Did  you  not  say  so  ?  Now  /  remember 
what  you  say,  you  see ;  I  understand  much  more  than  you 
think ;  for  you  still  lie  so  close  under  my  heart,  that  your  least 
little  thought  thrills  through  it,  as  your  slightest  movement 
did  once." 

"  I  shall  not  succeed  here,  you  see,  mamma,  and  I  will  not 
have  you  looking  on  while  I  am  struggling  and  heartsore  and 
in  anguish.  Mother,  let  me  leave  Alericon ;  I  want  to  go 
through  it  all  away  from  you." 

"/want  to  be  at  your  side  always,"  she  said  proudly. 
"Suffering  alone!  you  without  your  mother!  your  poor 
mother  that  would  be  your  servant  if  need  were,  and  keep 
out  of  sight  for  fear  of  injuring  you,  if  you  wished  it,  and 
never  accuse  you  of  pride  !  No,  no,  Athanase,  we  will  never 
be  parted  !  " 

Athanase  put  his  arms  about  her  and  held  her  with  a  pas- 
sionate, tight  clasp,  as  a  dying  man  might  cling  to  life. 


132         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

"  And  yet  I  wish  it,"  he  said.  "  If  we  do  not  part,  it  is  all 
over  with  me.  The  double  pain — yours  and  mine — would 
kill  me.  It  is  better  that  I  should  live,  is  it  not? " 

Mme.  Granson  looked  with  haggard  eyes  into  her  son's 
face. 

"  So  this  is  what  you  have  been  brooding  over !  They  said 
truth.  Then  are  you  going  away?" 

"Yes." 

"  But  you  are  not  going  until  you  have  told  me  all  about 
it,  and  without  giving  me  any  warning?  You  must  have  some 
things  to  take  with  you,  and  money.  There  are  some  louis 
d'ors  sewed  into  my  petticoat;  you  must  have  them." 

Athanase  burst  into  tears. 

"That  was  all  that  I  wanted  to  tell  you,"  he  said  after  a 
while.  "Now,  I  will  see  you  to  the  president's  house." 

Mother  and  son  went  out  together.  Athanase  left  Mme. 
Granson  at  the  door  of  the  house  where  she  was  to  spend  the 
evening.  He  looked  long  at  the  shafts  of  light  that  escaped 
through  chinks  in  the  shutters.  He  stood  there  glued  to  the 
spot,  while  a  quarter  of  an  hour  went  by,  and  it  was  with 
almost  delirious  joy  that  he  heard  his  mother  say :  "  Grand 
independence  of  hearts." 

"Poor  mother,  I  have  deceived  her!"  he  exclaimed  to 
himself  as  he  reached  the  river. 

He  came  down  to  the  tall  poplar  on  the  bank  where  he  had 
been  wont  to  sit  and  meditate  during  the  last  six  weeks.  Two 
big  stones  lay  there ;  he  had  brought  them  himself  for  a  seat. 
And  now,  looking  out  over  the  fair  landscape  lying  in  the 
moonlight,  he  passed  in  review  all  the  so  glorious  future  that 
should  have  been  his.  He  went  through  cities  stirred  to 
enthusiasm  by  his  name;  he  heard  the  cheers  of  crowded 
streets,  breathed  the  incense  of  banquets,  looked  with  a  great 
yearning  over  that  life  of  his  dreams,  rose  uplifted  and  radiant 
in  glorious  triumph,  raised  a  statue  to  himself,  summoned  up 
all  his  illusions  to  bid  them  farewell  in  a  last  Olympian  carouse. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        133 

The  magic  could  only  last  for  a  little  while;  it  fled,  it  had 
vanished  forever.  In  that  supreme  moment  he  clung  to  his 
beautiful  tree  as  if  it  had  been  a  friend  ;  then  he  put  the  stones, 
one  in  either  pocket,  and  buttoned  his  overcoat.  His  hat  he 
had  purposely  left  at  home.  He  went  down  the  bank  to  look 
for  a  deep  spot  which  he  had  had  in  view  for  some  time ;  and 
slid  in  resolutely,  trying  to  make  as  little  noise  as  possible. 
There  was  scarcely  a  sound. 

When  Mme.  Granson  came  home  about  half-past  nine  that 
night,  the  maid-of-all-work  said  nothing  of  Athanase,  but 
handed  her  a  letter.  Mme.  Granson  opened  it  and  read — 

"  I  have  gone  away,  my  kind  mother  ;  do  not  think  hardly 
of  me."  That  was  all. 

"A  pretty  thing  he  has  done!"  cried  she.  "And  how 
about  his  linen  and  the  money?  But  he  will  write,  and  I 
shall  find  him.  The  poor  children  always  think  themselves 
wiser  than  their  fathers  and  mothers."  And  she  went  to  bed 
with  a  quiet  mind. 

The  Sarthe  had  risen  with  yesterday's  rain.  Fishers  and 
anglers  were  prepared  for  this,  for  the  swollen  river  washes 
down  the  eels  from  the  little  streams  on  its  course.  It  so 
happened  that  an  eel-catcher  had  set  his  lines  over  the  very 
spot  where  poor  Athanase  had  chosen  to  drown  himself, 
thinking  that  he  should  never  be  heard  of  again  ;  and  next 
morning,  about  six  o'clock,  the  man  drew  out  the  newly 
dead  body. 

One  or  two  women  among  Mme.  Granson's  few  friends 
went  to  prepare  the  poor  widow  with  all  possible  care  to 
receive  the  dreadful  yield  of  the  river.  The  news  of  the 
suicide,  as  might  be  expected,  produced  a  tremendous  sensa- 
tion. Only  last  evening  the  poverty-stricken  man  of  genius 
had  not  a  single  friend  ;  the  morning  after  his  death  scores  of 
voices  cried  :  "  I  would  so  willingly  have  helped  him  !  "  So 
easy  is  it  to  play  a  charitable  part  when  no  outlay  is  involved. 
The  Chevalier  de  Valois,  in  the  spirit  of  revenge,  explained 


134         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

the  suicide.  It  was  a  boyish,  sincere,  and  noble  passion  for 
Mile.  Cormon  that  drove  Athanase  to  take  his  own  life.  And 
when  the  chevalier  had  opened  Mme.  Granson's  eyes,  she  saw 
a  multitude  of  little  things  to  confirm  thi?  view.  The  story 
grew  touching ;  women  cried  over  it. 

Even  before  Mme.  du  Bousquier  came  back  to  town,  her 
obliging  friend,  Mme.  du  Ronceret,  went  to  fling  a  dead  body 
down  among  the  roses  of  her  new-wedded  happiness,  to  let 
her  know  what  a  love  she  had  refused.  Ever  so  gently  Mme. 
President  squeezed  a  shower  of  drops  of  wormwood  over  the 
honey  of  the  first  month  of  married  life.  And  as  Mme.  du 
Bousquier  returned,  it  so  happened  that  she  met  Mme.  Gran- 
son  at  the  corner  of  the  Val-Noble,  and  the  look  in  the  heart- 
broken mother's  eyes  cut  her  to  the  quick.  It  was  a  look 
from  a  woman  dying  of  grief,  a  thousand  curses  gathered  up 
into  one  glance  of  malediction,  a  thousand  sparks  in  one  gleam 
of  hate.  It  frightened  Mme.  du  Bousquier ;  it  boded  ill  and 
invoked  ill  upon  her. 

Mme.  Granson  had  belonged  to  the  party  most  opposed 
to  the  cure;  she  was  a  bitter  partisan  of  the  priest  of  St. 
Leonard's  ;  but  on  the  very  evening  of  the  tragedy  she  thought 
of  the  rigid  orthodoxy  of  her  own  party,  and  she  shuddered. 
She  herself  laid  her  son  in  his  shroud,  thinking  all  the  while 
of  the  Mother  of  the  Saviour;  then,  with  a  soul  quivering  with 
agony,  she  betook  herself  to  the  house  of  the  perjured  priest. 
She  found  him  busy,  the  humble  good  man,  storing  the  hemp 
and  flax  which  he  gave  to  poor  women  and  girls  to  spin,  so 
that  no  worker  should  ever  want  work,  a  piece  of  wise  charity 
which  had  saved  more  than  one  family  that  could  not  endure 
to  beg.  He  left  his  hemp  at  once  and  brought  his  visitor 
into  the  dining-room,  where  the  stricken  mother  saw  the 
frugality  of  her  own  housekeeping  in  the  supper  that  stood 
waiting  for  the  cure. 

"Monsieur  I'AbbS,"  she  began.  "I  have  come  to  entreat 
you ' ' 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        135 

She  burst  into  tears,  and  could  not  finish  the  sentence. 

"I  know  why  you  have  come,"  answered  the  holy  man, 
"and  I  trust  to  you,  madame,  and  to  your  relative  Madame 
du  Botisquier  to  make  it  right  with  his  lordship  at  Seez.  Yes, 
I  will  pray  for  your  unhappy  boy ;  yes,  I  will  say  masses  ;  but 
we  must  avoid  all  scandal,  we  must  give  no  occasion  to  ill- 
disposed  people  to  gather  together  in  the  church.  I  myself, 
alone,  and  at  night " 

"Yes,  yes,  as  you  wish,  if  only  he  is  laid  in  consecrated 
ground!"  she  said,  poor  mother;  and  taking  the  priest's 
hand  in  hers,  she  kissed  it. 

And  so,  just  before  midnight,  a  bier  was  smuggled  into  the 
parish  church.  Four  young  men,  Athanase's  friends,  carried 
it.  There  were  a  few  little  groups  of  veiled  and  black-clad 
women,  Mme.  Granson's  friends,  and  some  seven  or  eight 
lads  that  had  been  intimate  with  the  dead.  The  bier  was 
covered  with  a  pall,  torches  were  lit  at  the  corners,  and  the 
cure  read  the  office  for  the  dead,  with  the  help  of  one  little 
choir  boy  whom  he  could  trust.  Then  the  suicide  was  buried, 
noiselessly,  in  a  corner  of  the  churchyard,  and  a  dark  wooden 
cross  with  no  name  upon  it  marked  the  grave  for'  the  mother. 
Athanase  lived  and  died  in  the  shadow. 

Not  a  voice  was  raised  against  the  cure ;  his  lordship  at 
Seez  was  silent ;  the  mother's  piety  redeemed  her  son's  im- 
pious deed. 

Mme.  Granson,  by  the  river-side,  whither  she  had  gone  to 
see  the  place  where  her  son  had  drowned  himself,  saw  a  woman 
at  some  distance — a  woman  who  came  nearer,  till  she  reached 
the  fatal  spot,  and  exclaimed — 

"Then  this  is  the  place!" 

One  other  woman  in  the  world  wept  there  as  the  mother 
was  weeping,  and  that  woman  was  Suzanne.  She  had  heard 
of  the  tragedy  on  her  arrival  that  morning  at  the  Three  Moors. 
If  poor  Athanase  had  been  alive,  she  might  have  done  what 
poor  and  generous  people  dream  of  doing,  and  the  rich  never 


136         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

think  of  putting  in  practice ;  she  would  have  inclosed  a  thou- 
sand francs  with  the  words:  " Money  lent  by  your  father  to  a 
comrade  who  now  repays  you."  During  her  journey  Suzanne 
had  thought  of  this  angelic  way  of  giving.  She  looked  up 
and  saw  Mme.  Granson. 

"  I  loved  him,"  she  said ;  then  she  hurried  away. 

Susanne,  true  to  her  nature,  did  not  leave  Alencon  till  she 
had  changed  the  bride's  wreath  of  orange  flowers  to  water- 
lilies.  She  was  the  first  to  assert  that  Mme.  du  Bousquier 
would  be  Mile.  Cormon  as  long  as  she  lived.  And  with  that 
one  jibe  she  avenged  both  Athanase  and  the  dear  Chevalier 
de  Valois. 

Alencon  beheld  another  and  more  piteous  suicide.  Atha- 
nase was  promptly  forgotten  by  a  world  that  willingly,  and 
indeed  of  necessity,  forgets  its  dead  as  soon  as  possible ;  but 
the  poor  chevalier's  existence  became  a  kind  of  death-in-life, 
a  suicide  continued  morning  after  morning  during  fourteen 
years.  Three  months  after  du  Bousquier's  marriage,  people 
remarked,  not  without  astonishment,  that  the  chevalier's  linen 
was  turning  yellow,  and  his  hair  irregularly  combed.  M. 
de  Valois  was  no  more,  for  a  disheveled  M.  de  Valois  could 
not  be  said  to  be  himself.  An  ivory  tooth  here  and  there 
deserted  from  the  ranks,  and  no  student  of  human  nature 
could  discover  to  what  corps  they  belonged,  whether  they  were 
native  or  foreign,  animal  or  vegetable ;  nor  whether,  finally, 
they  had  been  extracted  by  old  age,  or  were  merely  lying  out 
of  sight  and  out  of  mind  in  the  chevalier's  dressing-table 
drawer.  His  cravat  was  wisped,  careless  of  elegance,  into  a 
cord.  The  negroes'  heads  grew  pale  for  lack  of  soap  and 
water.  The  lines  on  the  chevalier's  face  deepened  into 
wrinkles  and  darkened  as  his  complexion  grew  more  and  more 
like  parchment ;  his  neglected  nails  were  sometimes  adorned 
with  an  edge  of  black  velvet.  Grains  of  snuff  lay  scattered 
like  autumn  leaves  in  the  furrows  of  his  vest. 

Hitherto  the  chevalier's  nose  had  made  a  peculiarly  elegant 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        137 

appearance  in  public  ;  never  had  it  been  seen  to  distill  a  drop 
of  amber,  to  let  fall  a  dark  wafer  of  moist  rappee ;  but  now, 
with  a  snuff-bedabbled  border  about  the  nostrils,  and  an  un- 
sightly stream  taking  advantage  of  the  channel  hollowed  above 
the  upper  lip,  that  nose,  which  no  longer  took  pains  to  please, 
revealed  the  immense  trouble  that  the  chevalier  must  have 
formerly  taken  with  himself. 

Latterly  the  chevalier's  witticisms  had  been  few  and  far 
between  ;  the  anecdotes  went  the  way  of  the  teeth,  but  his 
appetite  continued  as  good  as  ever ;  out  of  the  great  shipwreck 
of  his  hopes  he  saved  nothing  but  his  digestion  ;  and  while  he 
took  his  snuff  feebly,  he  dispatched  his  dinner  with  an  avidity 
alarming  to  behold.  You  may  mark  the  extent  of  the  havoc 
wrought  in  his  ideas  in  the  fact  that  his  colloquies  with  the 
Princess  Goritza  grew  less  and  less  frequent.  He  came  to 
Mile.  Armande's  one  day  with  a  false  calf  in  front  of  his  shins. 
The  bankruptcy  of  elegance  was  something  painful,  I  protest ; 
all  Alencon  was  shocked  by  it.  It  scared  society  to  see  an 
elderly  young  man  drop  suddenly  into  his  dotage,  and  from 
sheer  depression  of  spirits  pass  from  fifty  to  ninety  years. 
And  beside,  he  had  betrayed  his  secret.  He  had  been  waiting 
and  lying  in  wait  for  Mile.  Cormon.  For  ten  long  years, 
persevering  sportsman  that  he  was,  he  had  been  stalking  the 
game,  and  then  he  had  missed  his  shot. 

He  became  a  man  of  the  worst  character.  The  Liberal 
party  laid  all  du  Bousquier's  foundlings  on  the  chevalier's 
doorstep,  while  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  of  Alencon 
boastingly  accepted  them ;  laughed  and  cried :  "  The  dear 
chevalier!  What  else  could  he  do  ?"  Saint-Germain  pitied 
the  chevalier,  took  him  to  its  bosom,  and  smiled  more  than 
ever  upon  him ;  while  an  appalling  amount  of  unpopularity 
was  drawn  down  upon  du  Bousquier's  head. 

But  the  especial  result  of  the  marriage  was  a  more  sharply 
marked  division  of  parties  in  Alencon.  The  Maison  d'Es- 
grignon  represented  undiluted  aristocracy ;  for  the  Troisvilles 


138         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

on  their  return  joined  the  clique.  The  Maison  Cormon,  skill- 
fully influenced  by  du  Bousquier,  was  not  exactly  Liberal,  nor 
yet  resolutely  Royalist,  but  of  that  unlucky  shade  of  opinion 
which  produced  the  221  members,  so  soon  as  the  political 
struggle  took  a  definite  shape,  and  the  greatest,  most  august, 
and  only  real  power  of  kingship  came  into  collision  with  that 
most  false,  fickle,  and  tyrannical  power  which,  when  wielded 
by  an  elective  body,  is  known  as  the  power  of  Parliament. 

The  third  salon,  the  salon  du  Ronceret,  out-and-out  Radical 
in  its  politics,  was  firmly  but  secretly  allied  with  the  Maison 
Cormon. 

With  the  return  from  the  Prebaudet,  a  life  of  continual 
suffering  began  for  the  Abbe  de  Sponde.  He  kept  all  that  he 
endured  locked  within  his  soul,  uttering  not  a  word  of  com- 
plaint to  his  niece ;  but  to  Mile.  Armande  he  opened  his  heart, 
admitting  that,  taking  one  folly  with  another,  he  should  have 
preferred  the  chevalier. 

"Mademoiselle,"  the  old  abbe  said  as  the  thin  tears  fell 
from  his  faded  old  eyes,  "the  lime-tree  walk,  where  I  have 
been  used  to  meditate  these  fifty  years,  is  gone.  My  dear 
lime-trees  have  all  been  cut  down  !  Just  as  I  am  nearing  the 
end  of  my  days  the  Republic  has  come  back  again  in  the 
shape  of  a  horrible  revolution  in  the  house." 

"Your  niece  must  be  forgiven,"  said  the  Chevalier  de 
Valois.  "  Republicanism  is  a  youthful  error;  youth  goes  out 
to  seek  for  liberty,  and  finds  tyranny  in  its  worst  form — the 
tyranny  of  the  impotent  rabble.  Your  niece,  poor  thing,  has 
not  been  punished  by  the  thing  wherein  she  sinned." 

"  What  is  to  become  of  me  in  a  house  with  naked  women 
dancing  all  over  the  walls  ?  Where  shall  I  find  the  lime-tree 
walks  where  I  used  to  read  my  breviary?" 

Like  Kant,  who  lost  the  thread  of  his  ideas  when  somebody 
cut  down  the  fir-tree  on  which  he  fixed  his  eyes  as  he  medi- 
tated, the  good  abbe  pacing  up  and  down  the  shadowless 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        139 

alleys  could  not  say  his  prayers  with  the  same  uplifting  of 
soul.     Du  Bousquier  had  laid  out  an  English  garden  ! 

"It  looked  nicer,"  Mme.  du  Bousquier  said.  Not  that  she 
really  thought  so,  but  the  Abbe  Couturier  had  authorized  her 
to  say  and  do  a  good  many  things  that  she  might  please  her 
husband. 

The  Abbe  de  Sponde  was  the  first  to  see  the  unhappiness 
which  lay  beneath  the  surface  of  his  dear  child's  married  life. 
The  old  dignified  simplicity  which  ruled  their  way  of  living 
was  gone ;  du  Bousquier  gave  two  balls  every  month  in  the 
course  of  the  first  winter.  The  venerable  house — oh,  to  think 
of  it ! — echoed  with  the  sound  of  violins  and  worldly  gayety. 
The  abbe,  on  his  knees,  prayed  while  the  merriment  lasted. 

The  politics  of  the  sober  salon  underwent  a  gradual  change 
for  the  worse.  The  Abbe  de  Sponde,  divined  du  Bousquier ; 
he  shuddered  at  his  nephew's  dictatorial  tone.  He  saw  tears 
in  his  niece's  eyes  when  the  disposal  of  her  fortune  was  taken 
out  of  her  hands ;  her  husband  left  her  only  the  control  of 
the  linen,  the  table,  and  such  things  as  fall  to  a  woman's  lot. 

Does  any  one  know  how  much  it  costs  to  give  up  the  deli- 
cious exercise  of  authority  ?  If  the  triumph  of  will  is  one  of 
the  most  intoxicating  of  the  great  man's  joys,  to  have  one's 
own  way  is  the  whole  life  of  narrow  natures.  No  one  but  a 
cabinet  minister  fallen  into  disgrace  can  sympathize  with 
Mme.  du  Bousquier's  bitter  pain  when  she  saw  herself  reduced 
to  a  cipher  in  her  own  house. 

But  these  beginnings  were  the  roses  of  life.  Every  conces- 
sion was  counseled  by  poor  Rose's  love  for  her  husband,  and 
at  first  du  Bousquier  behaved  admirably  to  his  wife.  He  was 
very  good  to  her ;  he  brought  forward  sufficient  reasons  for 
every  encroachment.  The  room,  so  long  left  empty,  echoed 
with  the  voices  of  husband  and  wife  in  fireside  talk.  And  so, 
for  the  first  few  years  of  married  life,  Mme.  du  Bousquier  wore 
a  face  of  content,  and  that  little  air  of  emancipation  and 
mystery  often  seen  in  a  young  wife  after  a  marriage  of  love. 


140         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

She  had  no  more  trouble  with  "heated  blood."  This  coun- 
tenance of  hers  routed  scoffers,  gave  the  lie  to  gossip  concern- 
ing du  Bousquier's  impotence,  and  put  observers  of  human 
nature  at  fault. 

Rose-Marie- Victoire  was  so  afraid  lest  she  should  lose  her 
husband's  affection  or  drive  him  from  her  side  by  setting  her 
will  against  his,  that  she  would  have  made  any  sacrifice,  even 
of  her  uncle  if  need  be.  And  the  Abbe  de  Sponde,  deceived 
by  Mme.  du  Bousquier's  poor  foolish  little  joys,  bore  his  own 
discomforts  the  more  easily  for  the  thought  that  his  niece  was 
happy. 

At  first  Alencon  shared  this  impression.  But  there  was  one 
man  less  easy  to  deceive  than  all  the  rest  of  Alencon  put 
together.  The  Chevalier  de  Valois  had  taken  refuge  on  the 
sacred  mount  of  the  most  aristocratic  section,  and  spent  his 
time  with  the  d'Esgrignons.  The  perpetrator  of  puns  had 
been  already  brought  low,  and  he  meant  to  stab  du  Bousquier 
to  the  heart. 

The  poor  abb6,  knowing  as  he  did  the  cowardliness  of  his 
niece's  first  and  last  love,  shuddered  as  he  guessed  his  nephew's 
hypocritical  nature  and  the  man's  intrigues.  Du  Bousquier, 
be  it  said,  put  some  constraint  upon  himself;  he  had  an  eye 
to  the  abbe's  property,  and  had  no  wish  to  annoy  his  wife's 
uncle  in  any  way,  yet  he  dealt  the  old  man  his  death-blow. 

If  you  can  translate  the  word  Intolerance  by  Firmness  of 
Principle ;  if  you  can  forbear  to  condemn  in  the  old  Roman 
Catholic  vicar-general  that  stoicism  which  Scott  has  taught  us 
to  revere  in  Jeanie  Deans'  puritan  father ;  if,  finally,  you  can 
recognize  in  the  Roman  church  the  nobility  of  a  Potius  mori 
quam  fadari  which  you  admire  in  a  Republican — then  you 
can  understand  the  anguish  that  rent  the  great  Abbe  de  Sponde 
when  he  saw  the  apostate  in  his  nephew's  drawing-room ; 
when  he  was  compelled  to  meet  the  renegade,  the  backslider, 
the  enemy  of  the  church,  the  aider  and  abettor  of  the  Oath  to 
the  Constitution.  It  was  du  Bousquier's  private  ambition  to 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        141 

lord  it  over  the  countryside  ;  and  as  a  first  proof  of  his  power, 
he  determined  to  reconcile  the  officiating  priest  of  St.  Leonard's 
with  the  cure  of  Alengon.  He  gained  his  object.  His  wife 
imagined  that  peace  had  been  made  where  the  stern  abbe  saw 
no  peace,  but  surrender  of  principle.  M.  de  Sponde  was 
left  alone  in  the  faith.  The  bishop  came  to  du  Bousquier's 
house,  and  appeared  satisfied  with  the  cessation  of  hostilities. 
The  Abbe  Francois*  goodness  had  conquered  every  one — every 
one  except  the  old  Roman  of  the  Roman  church,  who  might 
have  cried  with  Cornelie  :  "  Ah,  God  !  what  virtues  you  make 
me  hate!"  The  Abbe  de  Sponde  died  when  orthodoxy 
expired  in  the  diocese.  . 

In  1819  the  Abbe  de  Sponde' s  property  raised  Mme.  du 
Bousquier's  income  from  land  to  twenty-five  thousand  livres 
without  counting  the  Prebaudet  or  the  house  in  the  Val-Noble. 
About  the  same  time  du  Bousquier  returned  the  amount  of  his 
wife's  savings  (which  she  had  made  over  to  him)  and  instructed 
her  to  invest  the  money  in  purchases  of  land  near  the  Pre- 
baudet, so  that  the  estate,  including  the  Abbe  de  Sponde's 
adjoining  property,  was  one  of  the  largest  in  the  department. 
As  for  du  Bousquier,  he  invested  his  money  with  the  Kellers, 
and  made  a  journey  to  Paris  four  times  a  year.  Nobody 
knew  the  exact  amount  of  his  private  fortune,  but  at  this  time 
he  was  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the 
department  of  the  Orne.  A  dexterous  man,  and  the  perma- 
nent candidate  of  the  Liberal  party,  he  always  lost  his  election 
by  seven  or  eight  votes  under  the  Restoration.  Ostensibly  he 
repudiated  his  connection  with  the  Liberals,  offering  himself  as  a 
Ministerial-Royalist  candidate  ;  but  although  he  succeeded  in 
gaining  the  support  of  the  Congregation  and  of  the  magistra- 
ture,  the  repugnance  of  the  administration  was  too  strong  to 
be  overcome. 

Then  the  rabid  Republican,  frantic  with  ambition,  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  beginning  a  struggle  with  the  royalism  and 
aristocracy  of  the  country,  just  as  they  were  carrying  all  before 


142         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

them.  He  gained  the  support  of  the  clergy  by  an  appearance 
of  piety  very  skillfully  kept  up  ;  always  going  with  his  wife  to 
mass,  giving  money  to  the  convents,  and  supporting  the  con- 
fraternity of  the  Sacred  Heart ;  and  whenever  a  dispute  arose 
between  the  clergy  and  the  town,  or  the  department,  or  the 
State,  he  was  very  careful  to  take  the  clerical  side.  And  so, 
while  secretly  supported  by  the  Liberals,  he  gained  the  influ- 
ence of  the  church ;  and  as  a  Constitutional-Royalist  kept 
close  beside  the  aristocratic  section,  the  better  to  ruin  it. 
And  rain  it  he  did.  He  brought  about  an  industrial  revolu- 
tion j  and  his  detestation  of  certain  families  on  the  high  road 
to  Brittany  rapidly  increased  the  material  prosperity  of  the 
province. 

And  so  he  paved  the  way  for  his  revenge  upon  the  gens  a 
ch&teaux  in  general,  and  the  d'Esgrignons  in  particular ;  some 
day,  not  so  very  far  distant,  he  would  plunge  a  poisoned 
blade  into  the  very  heart  of  the  clique.  He  found  capital  to 
revive  the  manufacture  of  point  d'Alencon  and  to  increase 
the  linen  trade.  Alencon  began  to  spin  its  own  flax  by 
machinery.  And  while  his  name  was  associated  with  all  these 
interests,  and  written  in  the  hearts  of  the  masses,  while  he  did 
all  that  Royalty  left  undone,  du  Bousquier  risked  not  a  cen- 
time of  his  own.  With  his  means,  he  could  afford  to  wait 
while  enterprising  men  with  little  capital  were  obliged  to  give 
up  and  leave  the  results  of  their  labors  to  luckier  successors. 
He  posed  as  a  banker.  A  Laffitte  on  a  small  scale,  he  be- 
came a  sleeping  partner  in  all  new  inventions,  taking  security 
for  his  money.  And  as  a  public  benefactor  he  did  remarkably 
well  for  himself.  He  was  a  promoter  of  insurance  companies, 
a  patron  of  new  public  conveyances ;  he  got  up  memorials  for 
necessary  roads  and  bridges.  The  authorities,  being  left 
behind  in  this  way,  regarded  this  activity  in  the  light  of  an 
encroachment ;  they  blundered,  and  put  themselves  into  the 
wrong,  for  the  prefecture  was  obliged  to  give  way  for  the  good 
of  the  country. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         143 

Du  Bousquier  embittered  the  provincial  noblesse  against  the 
court  nobles  and  the  peerage.  He  helped,  in  short,  to  bring 
it  to  pass  that  a  very  large  body  of  Constitutional-Royalists 
supported  the  "Journal  des  Debats  "  and  M.  de  Chateau- 
briand in  a  contest  with  the  throne.  It  was  an  ungrateful 
opposition  based  on  ignoble  motives  which  contributed  to 
bring  about  the  triumph  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  the  press  in 
1830.  Wherefore  du  Bousquier,  like  those  whom  he  repre- 
sented, had  the  pleasure  of  watching  a  funeral  procession  of 
Royalty*  pass  through  their  district  without  a  single  demon- 
stration of  sympathy  for  a  population  alienated  from  them  in 
ways  so  numerous  that  they  cannot  be  indicated  here. 

Then  the  old  Republican,  with  all  that  weight  of  masses  on 
his  conscience,  hauled  down  the  white  flag  above  the  town- 
hall  amid  the  applause  of  the  people.  For  fifteen  years  he 
had  acted  a  part  to  satisfy  his  vendetta,  and  no  man  in  France 
beholding  the  new  throne  raised  in  August,  1830,  could  feel 
more  intoxicated  than  he  with  the  joy  of  revenge.  For  him, 
the  succession  of  the  younger  branch  meant  the  triumph  of 
the  Revolution ;  for  him,  the  hoisting  of  the  tricolor  flag 
was  the  resurrection  of  the  Mountain ;  and  this  time  the 
nobles  should  be  brought  low  by  a  surer  method  than  the 
guillotine,  in  that  its  action  should  be  less  violent.  A  peerage 
for  life  only ;  a  National  Guard  which  stretches  the  marquis 
and  the  grocer  from  the  corner-store  on  the  same  camp-bed ; 
the  abolition  of  entail  demanded  by  a  bourgeois  barrister ;  a 
Catholic  church  deprived  of  its  supremacy ;  in  short,  all  the 
legislative  inventions  of  August,  1830,  simply  meant  for  du 
Bousquier  the  principles  of  1793  carried  out  in  a  more  ingen- 
ious manner. 

Du  Bousquier  has  been  receiver-general  of  taxes  since  1830. 

He  relied  for  success  upon  his  old  connections  with  Egalit6 

Orleans  (father  of  Louis  Philippe)  and  M.  de  Folmon,  steward 

of  the  dowager  duchess.     He  is  supposed  to  have  an  income 

*  Charles  X.  on  his  way  to  England. 


144         THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

of  eighty  thousand  livres.  In  the  eyes  of  his  fellow-country- 
men, Monsieur du  Bousquier  is  a  man  of  substance,  honorable, 
upright,  obliging,  unswerving  in  his  principles.  To  him, 
Alencon  owes  her  participation  in  the  industrial  movement 
which  makes  her,  as  it  were,  the  first  link  in  a  chain  which 
some  day  perhaps  may  bind  Brittany  to  the  state  of  things 
which  we  nickname  "  modern  civilization."  In  1816  Alencon 
boasted  but  two  carriages,  properly  speaking ;  ten  years  after- 
ward, caleches,  coupes,  landaus,  cabriolets,  and  tilburies  were 
rolling  about  the  streets  without  causing  any  astonishment. 
At  first  the  townsmen  and  landowners  were  alarmed  by  the 
rise  of  prices,  afterward  they  discovered  that  the  increased 
expenditure  produced  a  corresponding  increase  in  their  in- 
comes. 

Du  Ronceret's  prophetic  words :  "  Du  Bousquier  is  a  very 
strong  man,"  were  now  taken  up  by  the  country.  But,  un- 
fortunately for  du  Bousquier's  wife,  the  remark  is  a  shocking 
misnomer.  Du  Bousquier,  the  husband,  is  a  very  different 
person  from  du  Bousquier  the  public  man  and  politician. 
The  great  citizen,  so  liberal  in  his  opinions,  so  easy  humored, 
so  full  of  love  for  his  country,  is  a  despot  at  home,  and  has 
not  a  particle  of  love  for  his  wife.  The  Cromwell  of  the  Val- 
Noble  is  profoundly  astute,  hypocritical,  and  crafty;  he  be- 
haves to  those  of  his  own  household  as  he  behaved  to  the 
aristocrats  on  whom  he  fawned,  until  he  could  cut  their  throats. 
Like  his  friend  Bernadotte,  he  has  an  iron  hand  in  a  velvet 
glove.  His  wife  gave  him  no  children.  Suzanne's  epigram 
and  the  Chevalier  de  Valois'  insinuations  were  justified  ;  but 
the  Liberals  and  Constitutional-Royalists  among  the  towns- 
people, the  little  squires,  the  magistrature,  and  the  "clericals  " 
(as  the  "  Constitutionnel  "  used  to  say),  all  threw  the  blame 
upon  Mme.  du  Bousquier.  M.  du  Bousquier  had  married 
such  an  elderly  wife,  they  said  ;  and  beside,  how  lucky  it  was 
for  her,  poor  thing,  for  at  her  age  bearing  a  child  meant  such 
a  risk.  If,  in  periodically  recurrent  despair,  Mme.  du  Bous- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        145 

quier  confided  her  troubles  with  tears  to  Mme.  du  Coudrai  or 
Mme.  du  Ronceret : 

"  Why  you  must  be  mad,  dear  !  "  those  ladies  would  reply. 
"  You  do  not  know  what  you  want ;  a  child  would  be  the 
death  of  you." 

Men  like  M.  du  Coudrai,  who  followed  du  Bousquier's  lead 
because  they  fastened  their  hopes  to  his  success,  would  prompt 
their  wives  to  sing  du  Bousquier's  praises;  and  Rose  must 
listen  to  speeches  that  wounded  like  a  stab. 

"You  are  very  fortunate,  dear,  to  have  such  a  capable  hus- 
band ;  some  men  have  no  energy,  and  can  neither  manage 
their  own  property  nor  bring  up  their  children  ;  you  are 
spared  these  troubles." 

Or,  "Your  husband  is  making  you  queen  of  the  district, 
fair  lady.  He  will  never  leave  you  at  a  loss ;  he  does  every- 
thing in  Alencon." 

"But  I  should  like  him  to  take  less  trouble  for  the  public 
and  rather " 

"  My  dear  Mme.  du  Bousquier,  you  are  very  hard  to  please ; 
all  the  women  envy  you  your  husband." 

Unjustly  treated  by  a  world  which  condemned  her  without 
a  hearing,  she  found  ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  Christian 
virtues  in  her  inner  life.  She  who  lived  in  tears  always  turned 
a  serene  face  upon  the  world.  For  her,  pious  soul,  was  there 
not  sin  in  the  thought  which  was  always  pecking  at  her  heart 
— "  I.  loved  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  and  I  am  du  Bousquier's 
wife?"  Athanase's  love  rose  up  like  a  remorse  to  haunt  her 
dreams. 

The  Chevalier  de  Valois  was  the  malignant  artificer  of  her 
misfortune.  He  had  it  on  his  mind  to  snatch  his  opportunity 
and  undeceive  Mme.  du  Bousquier  as  to  one  of  her  articles  of 
faith ;  for  the  chevalier,  a  man  of  experience,  saw  through  du 
Bousquier  the  married  man,  as  he  had  seen  through  du  Bous- 
quier the  bachelor.  But  it  was  not  easy  to  take  the  astute 
Republican  by  surprise.  His  salon,  naturally,  was  closed  to 
10 


146         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  as  to  all  others  who  discontinued 
their  visits  to  the  Maison  Cormon  at  the  time  of  his  marriage. 
And  beside,  du  Bousquier  was  above  the  reach  of  ridicule;  he 
possessed  an  immense  fortune,  he  was  king  of  Alencon ;  and 
as  for  his  wife,  he  cared  about  her  much  as  Richard  III.  might 
have  cared  for  the  loss  of  the  horse  with  which  he  thought  to 
win  the  battle.  To  please  her  husband,  Mme.  du  Bousquier 
had  broken  with  the  Maison  d'Esgrignon,  but  sometimes, 
when  he  was  away  at  Paris  for  a  few  days,  she  paid  Mile. 
Armande  a  visit. 

Two  years  after  Mme.  du  Bousquier' s  marriage,  just  at  the 
time  of  the  abbe's  death,  Mile.  Armande  went  up  to  her  as 
she  came  out  of  church.  Both  women  had  been  to  St.  Leon- 
ard's to  hear  a  messc  noire  (lit.,  black  mass)  said  for  M.  de 
Sponde ;  and  Mile.  Armande,  a  generous  natured  woman, 
thinking  that  she  ought  to  try  to  comfort  the  weeping  heiress, 
walked  with  her  as  far  as  the  parade.  Prom  the  parade,  still 
talking  of  the  beloved  and  lost,  they  came  to  the  forbidden 
Hotel  d'Esgrignon,  and  Mile.  Armande  drew  Mme.  du  Bous- 
quier into  the  house  by  the  charm  of  her  talk.  Perhaps  the 
poor  broken-hearted  woman  loved  to  speak  of  her  uncle  with 
some  one  whom  her  uncle  had  loved  so  well.  And  beside, 
she  wished  to  receive  the  old  marquis'  greetings  after  an  in- 
terval of  nearly  three  years.  It  was  half-past  one  o'clock ; 
the  Chevalier  de  Valois  had  come  to  dinner,  and  with  a  bow 
he  held  out  both  hands. 

"Ah!  well,  dear,  good,  and  well-beloved  lady,"  he  said 
tremulously,  "  we  have  lost  our  sainted  friend.  Your  mourn- 
ing is  ours.  Yes ;  your  loss  is  felt  as  deeply  here  as  under 
your  own  roof — more  deeply,"  he  added,  alluding  to  du  Bous- 
quier. 

A  funeral  oration  followed,  to  which  every  one  contributed 
his  phrase;  then  the  chevalier,  gallantly  taking  the  lady's 
hand,  drew  it  under  his  arm,  pressed  it  in  the  most  adorable 
way,  and  led  her  aside  into  the  embrasure  of  a  window. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        147 

"You  are  happy,  at  any  rate?"  he  asked  with  a  fatherly 
tone  in  his  voice. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  lowering  her  eyes. 

Hearing  that  "  Yes,"  Mme.  de  Troisville  (daughter  of  the 
Princess  Scherbelloff)  and  the  old  Marquise  de  Casteran 
came  up;  Mile.  Armande  also  joined  them,  and  the  group 
took  a  turn  in  the  garden  till  dinner  should  be  ready.  Mme. 
du  Bousquier  was  so  stupid  with  grief  that  she  did  not  notice 
that  a  little  conspiracy  of  curiosity  was  on  foot  among  the 
ladies. 

"We  have  her  here,  let  us  find  out  the  answer  to  the 
riddle,"  the  glances  exchanged  among  them  seemed  to  say. 

"  You  should  have  children  to  make  your  happiness  com- 
plete," began  Mile.  Armande,  "a  fine  boy  like  my  nephew 
now " 

Tears  came  to  Mme.  du  Bousquier 's  eyes. 

"  I  have  heard  it  said  that  it  was  entirely  your  own  fault  if 
you  had  none,"  said  the  chevalier,  "that  you  were  afraid  of 
the  risk." 

"//"  she  cried,  innocently;  " I  would  endure  a  hundred 
years  in  hell  to  have  a  child." 

The  subject  thus  broached,  Mme.  la  Vicomtesse  de  Trois- 
ville and  the  dowager  Marquise  de  Casteran  steered  the  con- 
versation with  such  exceeding  tact  that  they  entangled  poor 
Rose  until,  all  unsuspectingly,  she  revealed  the  secrets  of  her 
married  life.  Mile.  Armande  laid  her  hand  on  the  chevalier's 
arm,  and  they  left  the  three  matrons  to  talk  confidentially. 
Then  Mme.  du  Bousquier's  mind  was  disabused  with  regard 
to  the  deception  of  her  marriage;  and  as  she  was  still  "a 
natural,"  she  amused  her  confidantes  with  her  irresistible 
naivete.  Before  long  the  whole  town  was  in  the  secret  of  du 
Bousquier's  manoeuvres,  and  knew  that  Mile.  Cormon's  mar- 
riage was  a  mockery;  but  after  the  first  burst  of  laughter, 
Mme.  du  Bousquier  gained  the  esteem  and  sympathy  of  every 
woman  in  it.  While  Mile.  Cormon  rushed  unsuccessfully  at 


148         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

opportunities  of  establishing  herself,  every  one  had  laughed ; 
but  people  admired  her  when  they  knew  the  position  in  which 
she  was  placed  by  the  severity  of  her  religious  principles. 
"  Poor,  dear  Mademoiselle  Cormon  !  "  was  replaced  by  "  poor 
Madame  du  Bousquier  !  " 

In  this  way  the  chevalier  made  du  Bousquier  both  ridicu- 
lous and  very  unpopular  for  a  while,  but  the  ridicule  died 
down  with  time;  the  slander  languished  when  everybody 
had  cut  his  joke ;  and  beside,  it  seemed  to  many  persons  that 
the  mute  Republican  had  a  right  to  retire  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven.  But  if  du  Bousquier  previously  hated  the  Maison 
d'Esgrignon,  this  incident  so  increased  his  rancor  that  he  was 
pitiless  afterward  in  the  day  of  vengeance.  Mme.  du  Bous- 
quier received  orders  never  to  set  foot  in  that  house  again  ; 
and  by  way  of  reprisals,  he  inserted  the  following  paragraph 
in  the  " Orne  Courier,  "  his  own  new  paper: 

"A  REWARD  of  Funds  to  bring  in  a  thousand  francs  will  be 
paid  to  any  person  who  shall  prove  that  one  M.  de  Pombreton 
existed  either  before  or  after  the  Emigration." 

Though  Mme.  du  Bousquier's  happiness  was  essentially 
negative,  she  saw  that  her  marriage  had  its  advantages.  Was 
it  not  better  to  take  an  interest  in  the  most  remarkable  man 
in  the  place  than  to  live  alone  ?  After  all,  du  Bousquier  was 
better  than  the  dogs,  cats,  and  canaries  on  which  old  maids 
centre  their  affections ;  and  his  feeling  for  his  wife  was  some- 
thing more  genuine  and  disinterested  than  the  attachment  of 
servants,  confessors,  and  legacy-hunters.  At  a  still  later  period 
she  looked  upon  her  husband  as  an  instrument  in  God's  hands 
to  punish  her  for  the  innumerable  sins  which  she  discovered 
in  her  desires  for  marriage ;  she  regarded  herself  as  justly  re- 
warded for  the  misery  which  she  had  brought  on  Mme.  Gran- 
son,  and  for  hastening  her  own  uncle's  end.  She  felt  the 
strongest  aversion  for  the  conduct  and  opinions  of  the  man 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        149 

she  had  married,  and  yet  it  was  her  duty  to  take  a  tender 
interest  in  him ;  and  if,  as  often  happened,  du  Bousquier  ate 
her  preserves,  or  thought  that  the  dinner  was  good,  she  was 
in  the  seventh  heaven.  She  saw  that  his  comfort  was  secured 
even  in  the  smallest  details. 

Did  du  Bousquier  go  on  a  journey,  she  fidgeted  over  his 
traveling  cloak  and  his  linen  ;  she  took  the  most  minute  pre- 
cautions for  his  material  comfort.  If  he  was  going  over  to 
the  Prebaudet,  she  began  to  consult  the  weather-glass  twenty- 
four  hours  beforehand.  A  sleeping  dog  has  eyes  and  ears  for 
his  master,  and  so  it  was  with  Mme.  du  Bousquier ;  she  used 
to  watch  the  expression  of  her  husband's  face  to  read  his 
wishes.  And  if  that  burly  personage,  vanquished  by  duty- 
prescribed  love,  caught  her  by  the  waist  and  kissed  her  on 
the  forehead,  exclaiming:  "You  are  a  good  woman  !  "  tears 
of  joy  filled  the  poor  creature's  eyes.  It  is  probable  that  du 
Bousquier  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  make  compensations 
which  won  Rose-Marie- Victoire's  respect ;  for  the  church  does 
not  require  that  an  assumption  of  wifely  devotion  should  be 
carried  quite  so  far  as  Mme.  du  Bousquier  thought  necessary. 
And  yet  when  she  listened  to  the  rancorous  talk  of  men  who 
took  Constitutional-Royalism  as  a  cloak  for  their  real  opinions, 
the  woman  of  saintly  life  uttered  not  a  word.  She  foresaw 
the  downfall  of  the  church,  and  shuddered.  Very  occasion- 
ally she  would  hazard  some  foolish  remark,  promptly  cut  in 
two  by  a  look  from  du  Bousquier.  The  timid  sheep  walked 
in  the  way  marked  out  by  the  shepherd ;  never  leaving  the 
bosom  of  the  church,  practicing  austerities,  without  a  thought 
of  the  devil,  his  pomps  and  works.  And  so,  within  herself, 
she  united  the  purest  Christian  virtues,  and  du  Bousquier  truly 
was  one  of  the  luckiest  men  in  the  kingdom  of  France  and 
Navarre. 

"She  will  be  a  simpleton  till  her  last  sigh,"  said  the  cruel 
ex-registrar  (now  cashiered).  But,  all  the  same,  he  dined  at 
her  table  twice  a  week. 


150         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

The  story  would  be  singularly  incomplete  if  it  omitted  to 
mention  a  last  coincidence  :  the  Chevalier  de  Valois  and  Su- 
zanne's mother  died  at  the  same  time. 

The  chevalier  died  with  the  Monarchy  in  August,  1830. 
He  went  to  Nonancourt  to  join  the  funeral  procession  ;  piously 
making  one  of  the  King's  escort  to  Cherbourg,  with  the  Trois- 
villes,  Casterans,  d'Esgrignons,  Verneuil's,  and  the  rest.  He 
had  brought  with  him  his  little  hoard  of  savings  and  the 
principal  which  brought  him  in  his  annual  income,  some  fifty 
thousand  francs  in  all,  which  he  offered  to  a  faithful  friend  of 
the  elder  branch  to  convey  to  his  majesty.  His  own  death 
was  very  near,  he  said  ;  the  money  had  come  to  him  through 
the  King's  bounty;  and,  after  all,  the  property  of  the  last  of 
the  Valois  belonged  to  the  Crown.  History  does  not  say 
whether  the  chevalier's  fervent  zeal  overcame  the  repugnance 
of  the  Bourbon  who  left  his  fair  kingdom  of  France  without 
taking  one  centime  into  exile ;  but  the  King  surely  must  have 
been  touched  by  the  old  noble's  devotion  ;  and  this  much  is 
at  least  certain — Cesarine,  M.  de  Valois'  universal  legatee, 
inherited  scarcely  six  hundred  livres  of  income  at  his  death. 
The  chevalier  came  back  to  Alencon,  broken-hearted  and 
spent  with  the  fatigue  of  the  journey,  to  die  just  as  Charles  X. 
set  foot  on  foreign  soil. 

Mme.  du  Val-Noble  and  her  journalist  protector,  fearing 
reprisals  from,  the  Liberals,  were  glad  of  an  excuse  to  return 
incognito  to  the  village  where  the  old  mother  died.  Suzanne 
attended  the  sale  of  the  chevalier's  furniture  to  buy  some  relic 
of  her  first  good  friend,  and  ran  up  the  price  of  the  snuff- 
box to  the  enormous  amount  of  a  thousand  francs.  The 
Princess  Goritza's  portrait  alone  was  worth  that  sum.  Two 
years  afterward,  a  young  man  of  fashion,  struck  with  its  mar- 
velous workmanship,  obtained  it  of  Suzanne  for  his  collection 
of  fine  eighteenth-century  snuff-boxes ;  and  so  the  delicate 
toy  which  had  been  the  confidante  of  the  most  courtly  of 
love  affairs,  and  the  delight  of  an  old  age  till  its  very  end,  is 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        151 

now  brought  into  the  semi-publicity  of  a  collection.  If  the 
dead  could  know  what  is  done  after  they  are  gone,  there 
would  be  a  flush  at  this  moment  on  the  chevalier's  left  cheek. 

If  this  history  should  inspire  owners  of  sacred  relics  with  a 
holy  fear,  and  set  them  drafting  codicils  to  provide  for  the 
fate  of  such  precious  souvenirs  of  a  happiness  now  no  more, 
by  giving  them  into  sympathetic  hands  ;  even  so  an  enormous 
service  would  have  been  rendered  to  the  chivalrous  and  senti- 
mental section  of  the  public ;  but  it  contains  another  and  a 
much  more  exalted  moral.  Does  it  not  show  that  a  new 
branch  of  education  is  needed  ?  Is  it  not  an  appeal  to  the  so 
enlightened  solicitude  of  Ministers  of  Public  Instruction  to 
create  chairs  of  anthropology,  a  science  in  which  Germany 
is  outstripping  us? 

Modern  myths  are  even  less  understood  of  the  people  than 
ancient  myths,  eaten  up  with  myths  though  we  may  be. 
Fables  crowd  in  upon  us  on  every  side,  allegory  is  pressed 
into  service  on  all  occasions  to  explain  everything.  If  fables 
are  the  torches  of  history,  as  the  humanist  school  maintains, 
they  may  be  a  means  of  securing  empires  from  revolution,  if 
only  professors  of  history  will  undertake  that  their  inter- 
pretations thereof  shall  permeate  the  masses  in  the  depart- 
ments. If  Mile.  Cormon  had  had  some  knowledge  of  litera- 
ture ;  if  there  had  been  a  professor  of  anthropology  in  the 
department  of  the  Orne;  if  (a  final  if)  she  had  read  her 
Ariosto,  would  the  appalling  misfortune  of  her  marriage  have 
befallen  her?  She  would,  perhaps,  have  found  out  for  herself 
why  the  Italian  poet  makes  his  heroine  Angelica  prefer  Me- 
doro  (a  suave  Chevalier  de  Valois)  to  Orlando,  who  had  lost 
his  mare,  and  could  do  nothing  but  work  himself  into  a  fury.* 
Might  not  Medoro  be  taken  as  an  allegorical  figure  as  the 
courtier  of  woman's  sovereignty,  whereas  Orlando  is  revolu- 
tion personified,  an  undisciplined,  furious,  purely  destructive 
force,  incapable  of  producing  anything  ?  This  is  the  opinion 
*  Ariosto's  "Orlando  Furioso." 


152         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

of  one  of  M.  Ballanche's  pupils ;  we  publish  it,  declining  all 
responsibility. 

As  for  the  tiny  negroes'  heads,  no  information  of  any  kind 
concerning  them  is  forthcoming.  Mme.  du  Val-Noble  you 
may  see  any  day  at  the  opera.  Thanks  to  the  primary  educa- 
tion given  to  her  by  the  Chevalier  de  Valois,  she  looks  almost 
like  a  woman  who  makes  a  necessity  of  virtue,  while  in  truth 
she  only  exists  by  virtue  of  necessity. 

Mme.  du  Bousquier  is  still  living,  which  is  to  say,  is  it  not, 
that  her  troubles  are  not  yet  over  ?  At  sixty,  when  women 
can  permit  themselves  to  make  admissions,  talking  confiden- 
tially to  Mme.  du  Courdrai,  whose  husband  was  reinstated  in 
August,  1830,  she  said  that  the  thought  that  she  must  die 
without  knowing  what  it  was  to  be  a  wife  and  mother  was 
more  then  she  could  bear. 

PARIS,  October,  1836. 


THE  COLLECTION  OF  ANTIQUITIES 

(Le  Cabinet  des  antiques). 

TO  BARON  VON  HAMMER-PURGSTALL, 

Member  of  the  Aulic  Council,  Author  of  the  History  of  the 

Ottoman  Empire. 

Dear  Baron : —  You  have  taken  so  warm  an  interest 
in  my  long,  vast  History  of  French  Manners  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  you  have  given  me  so  much  en- 
couragement to  persevere  with  my  work,  that  you  have 
given  me  a  right  to  associate  your  name  with  some 
portion  of  it.  Are  you  not  one  of  the  most  important 
representatives  of  conscientious,  studious  Germany? 
Will  not  your  approval  win  for  me  the  approval  of 
others,  and  protect  this  attempt  of  mine  ?  So  proud 
am  I  to  have  gained  your  good  opinion,  that  I  have 
striven  to  deserve  it  by  continuing  my  labors  with  the 
unflagging  courage  characteristic  of  your  methods  of 
study,  and  of  that  exhaustive  research  among  docu- 
ments without  which  you  could  never  have  given  your 
monumental  work  to  the  world  of  letters.  Your  sym- 
pathy with  such  labor  as  you  yourself  have  bestowed 
upon  the  most  brilliant  civilization  of  the  East,  has 
often  sustained  my  ardor  through  nights  of  toil  given 
to  the  details  of  our  modern  civilization.  And  will 
not  you,  whose  naive  kindliness  can  only  be  compared 
with  that  of  our  own  La  Fontaine,  be  glad  to  know 
of  this  ? 

May  this  token  of  my  respect  for  you  and  your  work 
find  you  at  Dobling,  dear  baron,  and  put  you  and 
yours  in  mind  of  one  of  your  most  sincere  admirers 
and  friends.  DE  BALZAC. 

(153) 


154         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

THERE  stands  a  house  at  a  corner  of  a  street,  in  the  middle 
of  a  town,  in  one  of  the  least  important  prefectures  in  France, 
but  the  name  of  the  street  and  the  name  of  the  town  must  be 
suppressed  here.  Every  one  will  appreciate  the  motives  of 
this  sage  reticence  demanded  by  convention  ;  for  if  a  writer 
takes  upon  himself  the  office  of  annalist  of  his  own  time,  he  is 
bound  to  touch  on  many  sore  subjects.  The  house  was  called 
the  Hotel  d'Esgrignon ;  but  let  d'Esgrignon  be  considered  a 
mere  fancy  name,  neither  more  nor  less  connected  with  real 
people  than  the  conventional  Belval,  Floricour,  or  Derville 
of  the  stage,  or  the  Adalberts  and  Monbreuses  of  romance. 
After  all,  the  names  of  the  principal  characters  will  be  quite 
as  much  disguised ;  for  though  in  this  history  the  chronicler 
would  prefer  to  conceal  the  facts  under  a  mass  of  contradic- 
tions, anachronisms,  improbabilities,  and  absurdities ;  the 
truth  will  out  in  spite  of  him.  You  uproot  a  vine-stock,  as 
you  imagine,  and  the  stem  will  send  up  lusty  shoots  after  you 
have  ploughed  your  vineyard  over. 

The  "  Hotel  d'Esgrignon  "  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
the  house  in  which  the  old  marquis  lived ;  or,  in  the  style  of 
ancient  documents,  Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol,  Marquis 
d'Esgrignon.  It  was  only  an  ordinary  house,  but  the  towns- 
people and  tradesmen  had  begun  by  calling  it  the  Hotel 
d'Esgrignon  in  jest,  and  ended  after  a  score  of  years  by  giving 
it  that  name  in  earnest. 

The  name  of  Carol,  or  Karawl,  as  the  Thierrys  would  have 
spelt  it,  was  glorious  among  the  names  of  the  most  powerful 
chieftains  of  the  Northmen  who  conquered  Gaul  and  estab- 
lished the  feudal  system  there.  Never  had  Carol  bent  his 
head  before  King  or  communes,  the  church  or  finance. 
Intrusted  in  the  days  of  yore  with  the  keeping  of  a  French 
March,  the  title  of  marquis  in  their  family  meant  no  shadow 
of  imaginary  office ;  it  had  been  a  post  of  honor  with  duties  to 
discharge.  Their  fief  had  always  been  their  domain.  Pro- 
vincial nobles  were  they  in  every  sense  of  the  word ;  they  might 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        155 

boast  of  an  unbroken  line  of  great  descent ;  they  had  been 
neglected  by  the  court  for  two  hundred  years ;  they  were  lords 
paramount  in  the  estates  of  a  province  where  the  people  looked 
up  to  them  with  superstitious  awe,  as  to  the  image  of  the  Holy 
Virgin  that  cures  the  toothache.  The  house  of  d'Esgrignon, 
buried  in  its  remote  border  country,  was  preserved  as  the 
charred  piles  of  one  of  Caesar's  bridges  are  maintained  intact 
in  a  river-bed.  For  thirteen  hundred  years  the  daughters  of 
the  house  had  been  married  without  a  dowry  or  taken  the  veil ; 
the  younger  sons  of  every  generation  had  been  content  with 
their  share  of  their  mother's  dower  and  gone  forth  to  be  cap- 
tains or  bishops ;  some  had  made  a  marriage  at  Court ;  one 
cadet  of  the  house  became  an  admiral,  a  duke,  and  a  peer  of 
France,  and  died  without  issue.  Never  would  the  Marquis 
d'Esgrignon  of  the  elder  branch  accept  the  title  of  duke. 

"  I  hold  my  marquisate  as  his  majesty  holds  the  realm  of 
France,  and  on  the  same  conditions,"  he  told  the  Constable 
de  Luynes,  a  very  paltry  fellow  in  his  eyes,  at  that  time. 

You  may  be  sure  that  d'Esgrignons  lost  their  heads  on  the 
scaffold  during  the  troubles.  The  old  blood  showed  itself 
proud  and  high  even  in  1789.  The  marquis  on  that  day 
would  not  emigrate ;  he  was  answerable  for  his  March.  The 
reverence  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  countryside  saved  his 
head ;  but  the  hatred  of  the  genuine  sans- culottes,  the  old 
Jacobins,  was  strong  enough  to  compel  him  to  pretend  to  fly, 
and  for  a  while  he  lived  in  hiding.  Then,  in  the  name  of  the 
Sovereign  People,  the  d'Esgrignon  lands  were  dishonored  by 
the  District,  and  the  woods  sold  by  the  Nation  in  spite  of  the 
personal  protest  made  by  the  marquis,  then  turned  of  forty. 
Mile.  d'Esgrignon,  his  half-sister,  saved  some  portions  of  the 
fief,  thanks  to  the  young  steward  of  the  family,  who  claimed 
on  her  behalf  the  partage  de  presuccession,  which  is  to  say,  the 
right  of  a  relative  to  a  portion  of  an  emigre  s  lands.  To 
Mile.  d'Esgrignon,  therefore,  the  Republic  made  over  the 
castle  itself  and  a  few  farms.  Chesnel,  the  faithful  steward, 


156         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

was  obliged  to  buy  in  his  own  name  the  church,  the  parsonage 
house,  the  castle  gardens,  and  other  places  to  which  his  patron 
was  attached — the  marquis  advancing  the  money. 

The  slow,  swift  years  of  the  Terror  went  by,  and  the  marquis, 
whose  character  had  won  the  respect  of  the  whole  country, 
decided  that  he  and  his  sister  ought  to  return  to  the  castle 
and  improve  the  property  which  Maitre  Chesnel — for  he  was 
now  a  notary — had  contrived  to  save  for  them  out  of  the 
wreck. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  October,  1800,  that  Chesnel  brought 
the  marquis  back  to  the  old  feudal  castle,  and  saw  with  deep 
emotion,  almost  beyond  control,  his  patron  standing  in  the 
midst  of  the  empty  courtyard,  gazing  round  upon  the  moat, 
now  filled  up  with  rubbish,  and  the  castle  towers  razed  to  the 
level  of  the  roof.  The  descendant  of  the  Franks  looked  for 
the  missing  Gothic  turrets  and  the  picturesque  weather-vanes 
which  used  to  rise  above  them  ;  and  his  eyes  turned  to  the  sky, 
as  if  asking  of  heaven  the  reason  of  this  social  upheaval. 
No  one  but  Chesnel  could  understand  the  profound  anguish 
of  the  great  d'Esgrignon,  now  known  as  Citizen  Carol.  For 
a  long  while  the  marquis  stood  in  silence,  drinking  in  the 
influences  of  the  place,  the  ancient  home  of  his  forefathers, 
with  the  air  that  he  breathed;  then  he  flung  out  a  most 
melancholy  exclamation  : 

"Chesnel,"  he  said,  "we  will  come  back  again  some  day 
when  the  troubles  are  over ;  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  live 
here  until  the  edict  of  pacification  has  been  published ;  they 
will  not  allow  me  to  set  my  escutcheon  on  the  wall." 

He  waved  his  hand  toward  the  castle,  mounted  his  horse, 
and  rode  back  beside  his  sister,  who  had  driven  over  in  the 
notary's  shabby  basket  chaise. 

The  Hotel  d'Esgrignon  in  the  town  had  been  demolished ; 
a  couple  of  factories  now  stood  on  the  site  of  the  aristocrat's 
house.  So  Maitre  Chesnel  spent  the  marquis'  last  bag  of  louis 
on  the  purchase  of  the  old-fashioned  building  in  the  square, 


HE     SAW     WITH      DEEP    EMOTION,     ALMOST     BEYOND    CONTROL, 

HIS    PATRON    STANDING    IN    THE    MIDST   OF 

THE    EMPTY    COURTYARD. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         157 

with  its  gables,  weather-vane,  turret,  and  dovecot.  Once  it 
had  been  the  court-house  of  the  bailiwick,  and  subsequently  the 
presidial ;  it  had  belonged  to  the  d'Esgrignons  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  ;  and  now,  in  consideration  of  five  hundred 
louis  d'or,  the  present  owner  made  it  over  with  the  title  given 
by  the  Nation  to  its  rightful  lord.  And  so,  half  in  jest,  half 
in  earnest,  the  old  house  was  christened  the  Hotel  d'Esgrignon. 

In  1800  little  or  no  difficulty  was  made  over  erasing  names 
from  the  fatal  list,  and  some  few  emigres  began  to  return. 
Among  the  very  first  nobles  to  come  back  to  the  old  town 
were  the  Baron  de  Nouastre  and  his  daughter.  They  were 
completely  ruined.  M.  d'Esgrignon  generously  offered  them 
the  shelter  of  his  roof;  and  in  his  house,  two  months  later, 
the  baron  died,  worn  out  with  grief.  The  Nouastres  came  of 
the  best  blood  of  the  province ;  Mile,  de  Nouastre  was  a  girl 
of  two-and-twenty ;  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon  married  her  to 
continue  his  line.  But  she  died  in  childbirth,  a  victim  to  the 
unskillful  ness  of  her  physician,  leaving,  most  fortunately,  a  son 
to  bear  the  name  of  the  d'Esgrignons.  The  old  marquis — he 
was  but  fifty-three,  but  adversity  and  sharp  distress  had  added 
months  to  every  year — the  poor  old  marquis  saw  the  death  of 
the  loveliest  of  human  creatures,  a  noble  woman  in  whom  the 
charm  of  the  feminine  figures  of  the  sixteenth  century  lived 
again,  a  charm  now  lost  save  to  men's  imaginations.  With 
her  death  the  joy  died  out  of  his  old  age.  It  was  one  of  those 
terrible  shocks  which  reverberate  through  every  moment  of 
the  years  that  follow.  For  a  few  moments  he  stood  beside 
the  bed  where  his  wife  lay,  with  her  hands  folded  like  a  saint, 
then  he  kissed  her  on  the  forehead,  turned  away,  drew  out  his 
watch,  broke  the  mainspring,  and  hung  it  up  beside  the  hearth. 
It  was  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

"Mademoiselle  d'Esgrignon,"  he  said,  "let  us  pray  God 
that  this  hour  may  not  prove  fatal  yet  again  to  our  house. 
My  uncle  the  archbishop  was  murdered  at  this  hour  ;  at  this 
hour  also  my  father  died " 


158         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

He  knelt  down  beside  the  bed  and  buried  his  face  in  the 
coverlet ;  his  sister  did  the  same.  In  another  moment  they 
both  rose  to  their  feet.  Mile.  d'Esgrignon  burst  into  tears; 
but  the  old  marquis  looked  with  dry  eyes  at  the  child,  round 
the  room,  and  again  on  his  dead  wife.  To  the  stubbornness 
of  the  Frank  he  united  the  fortitude  of  a  Christian. 

These  things  came  to  pass  in  the  second  year  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Mile.  d'Esgrignon  was  then  twenty-seven 
years  of  age.  She  was  a  beautiful  woman.  An  ex-contractor 
for  forage  to  the  armies  of  the  Republic,  a  man  of  the  district, 
with  an  income  of  six  thousand  francs,  persuaded  Chesnel  to 
carry  a  proposal  of  marriage  to  the  lady.  The  marquis  and 
his  sister  were  alike  indignant  with  such  presumption  in  their 
man  of  business,  and  Chesnel  was  almost  heart-broken ;  he 
could  not  forgive  himself  for  yielding  to  the  Sieur  du  Croisier's 
blandishments.  The  marquis'  manner  with  his  old  servant 
changed  somewhat ;  never  again  was  there  quite  the  old  affec- 
tionate kindliness,  which  might  almost  have  been  taken  for 
friendship.  From  that  time  forth  the  marquis  was  grateful,  and 
his  magnanimous  and  sincere  gratitude  continually  wounded 
the  poor  notary's  feelings.  To  some  sublime  natures  gratitude 
seems  an  excessive  payment ;  they  would  rather  have  that 
sweet  equality  of  feeling  which  springs  from  similar  ways  of 
thought,  and  the  blending  of  two  spirits  by  their  own  choice 
and  will.  And  Mattre  Chesnel  had  known  the  delights  of 
such  high  friendship  ;  the  marquis  had  raised  him  to  his  own 
level.  The  old  noble  looked  on  the  good  notary  as  something 
more  than  a  servant,  something  less  than  a  child  ;  he  was  the 
voluntary  liege  man  .of  the  house,  a  serf  bound  to  his  lord  by 
all  the  ties  of  affection.  There  was  no  balancing  of  obliga- 
tions ;  the  sincere  affection  on  either  side  put  that  out  of  the 
question. 

In  the  eyes  of  the  marquis,  Chesnel's  official  dignity  was  as 
nothing;  his  old  servitor  was  merely  disguised  as  a  notary. 
As  for  Chesnel,  the  marquis  was  now,  as  always,  a  being  of  a 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         159 

divine  race ;  he  believed  in  nobility ;  he  did  not  blush  to 
remember  that  his  father  had  thrown  open  the  doors  of  the 
salon  to  announce  that  "  My  Lord  Marquis  is  served."  His 
devotion  to  the  fallen  house  was  due  not  so  much  to  his  creed 
as  to  egoism ;  he  looked  on  himself  as  one  of  the  family. 
So  his  vexation  was  intense.  Once  he  had  ventured  to  allude 
to  his  mistake  in  spite  of  the  marquis'  prohibition,  and  the 
old  noble  answered  gravely — "  Chesnel,  before  the  troubles 
you  would  not  have  permitted  yourself  to  entertain  such  in- 
jurious suppositions.  What  can  these  new  doctrines  be  if  they 
have  spoiled  you  ?" 

Maitre  Chesnel  had  gained  the  confidence  of  the  whole 
town  ;  people  looked  up  to  him  ;  his  high  integrity  and  con- 
siderable fortune  contributed  to  make  him  a  person  of  impor- 
tance. From  that  time  forth  he  felt  a  very  decided  aversion 
for  the  Sieur  du  Croisier  ;  and  though  there  was  little  rancor 
in  his  composition,  he  set  others  against  the  sometime  forage- 
contractor.  Du  Croisier,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  man  to 
bear  a  grudge  and  nurse  a  vengeance  for  a  score  of  years. 
He  hated  Chesnel  and  the  d'Esgrignon  family  with  the  smoth- 
ered, all-absorbing  hate  only  to  be  found  in  a  country  town. 
His  rebuff  had  simply  ruined  him  with  the  malicious  provin- 
cials among  whom  he  had  come  to  live,  thinking  to  rule  over 
them.  It  was  so  real  a  disaster  that  he  was  not  long  in  feeling 
the  consequences  of  it.  He  betook  himself  in  desperation  to 
a  wealthy  old  maid,  and  met  with  a  second  refusal.  Thus 
failed  the  ambitious  schemes  with  which  he  had  started.  He 
had  lost  his  hope  of  a  marriage  with  Mile.  d'Esgrignon,  which 
would  have  opened  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  of  the  province 
to  him ;  and  after  the  second  rejection,  his  credit  fell  away  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  was  almost  as  much  as  he  could  do  to 
keep  his  position  in  the  second  rank. 

In  1805,  M.  de  la  Roche-Guyon,  the  oldest  son  of  an 
ancient  family  which  had  previously  intermarried  with  the 
d'Esgrignons,  made  proposals  in  form  through  Maitre  Chesnel 


160         THE  JEALOUSIES   OP  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

for  Mile.  Marie-Armande-Claire  d'Esgrignon.  She  declined 
to  hear  the  notary. 

"You  must  have  guessed  before  now  that  I  am  a  mother, 
dear  Chesnel,"  she  said  ;  she  had  just  put  her  nephew,  a  fine 
little  boy  of  five,  to  bed. 

The  old  marquis  rose  and  went  up  to  his  sister,  but  just 
returned  from  the  cradle ;  he  kissed  her  hand  reverently,  and 
as  he  sat  down  again,  found  words  to  say — 

"  My  sister,  you  are  a  d'Esgrignon." 

A  quiver  ran  through  the  noble  girl ;  the  tears  stood  in  her 
eyes.  M.  d'Esgrignon,  the  father  of  the  present  marquis,  had 
married  a  second  wife,  the  daughter  of  a  farmer-general*  en- 
nobled by  Louis  XIV.  It  was  a  shocking  mesalliance  in  the 
eyes  of  his  family,  but  fortunately  of  no  importance,  since  a 
daughter  was  the  one  child  of  the  marriage.  Armande  knew 
this.  Kind  as  her  brother  had  always  been,  he  looked  on  her 
as  a  stranger  in  blood.  And  this  speech  of  his  had  just  recog- 
nized her  as  one  of  the  family. 

And  was  not  her  answer  the  worthy  crown  of  eleven  years 
of  her  noble  life  ?  Her  every  action  since  she  came  of  age 
had  borne  the  stamp  of  the  purest  devotion ;  love  for  her 
brother  was  a  sort  of  religion  with  her. 

"I  shall  die  Mademoiselle  d'Esgrignon,"  she  said  simply, 
turning  to  the  notary. 

«For  you  there  could  be  no  fairer  title,"  returned  Chesnel, 
meaning  to  convey  a  compliment.  Poor  Mile.  d'Esgrignon 
reddened. 

"  You  have  blundered,  Chesnel,"  said  the  marquis,  flattered 
by  the  steward's  words,  but  vexed  that  his  sister  had  been  hurt. 
"  A  d'Esgrignon  may  marry  a  Montmorency ;  their  descent  is 
not  so  pure  as  ours.  The  d'Esgrignons  bear  or,  two  bends, 
gules,"  he  continued,  "and  nothing  during  nine  hundred 
years  has  changed  their  escutcheon  ;  as  it  was  at  first,  so  it  is 
to-day.  Hence  our  device,  Cil  est  nostre,  taken  at  a  tourna? 
*  Private  contractors  who  rented  the  tax  collecting. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   Of  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         161 

ment  in  the  reign  of  Philip  Augustus,  with  the  supporters,  a 
knight  in  armor  or  on  the  right,  and  a  lion  gules  on  the  left." 

"  I  do  not  remember  that  any  woman  I  have  ever  met  has 
struck  my  imagination  as  Mademoiselle  d'Esgrignon  did," 
said  Emile  Blondet,  to  whom  contemporary  literature  is 
indebted  for  this  history  among  other  things.  "Truth  to 
tell,  I  was  a  boy,  a  mere  child  at  the  time,  and  perhaps  my 
memory-pictures  of  her  owe  something  of  their  vivid  color  to 
a  boy's  natural  turn  for  the  marvelous. 

"If  I  was  playing  with  other  children  on  the  parade,  and 
she  came  to  walk  there  with  her  nephew  Victurnien,  the  sight 
of  her  in  the  distance  thrilled  me  with  very  much  the  effect 
of  galvanism  on  a  dead  body.  Child  as  I  was,  I  felt  as  though 
new  life  had  been  given  me. 

"Mile.  Armande  had  hair  of  tawny  gold;  there  was  a 
delicate  fine  down  on  her  cheek,  with  a  silver  gleam  upon  it 
which  I  loved  to  catch,  putting  myself  so  that  I  could  see  the 
outlines  of  her  face  lit  up  by  the  daylight,  and  feel  the  fascina- 
tion of  those  dreamy  emerald  eyes,  which  sent  a  flash  of  fire 
through  me  whenever  they  fell  upon  my  face.  I  used  to  pre- 
tend to  roll  on  the  grass  before  her  in  our  games,  only  to  try 
to  reach  her  little  feet,  and  'admire  them  on  a  closer  view. 
The  soft  whiteness  of  her  skin,  her  delicate  features,  the 
clearly  cut  lines  of  her  forehead,  the  grace  of  her  slender 
figure,  took  me  with  a  sense  of  surprise,  while  as  yet  I  did  not 
know  that  her  shape  was  graceful,  nor  her  brows  beautiful, 
nor  the  outline  of  her  face  a  perfect  oval.  I  admired  as 
children  pray  at  that  age,  without  too  clearly  understanding 
why  they  pray.  When  my  piercing  gaze  attracted  her  notice, 
when  she  asked  me  (in  that  musical  voice  of  hers,  with  more 
volume  in  it,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  than  all  other  voices), 
'  What  are  you  doing,  little  one  ?  Why  do  you  look  at  me  ?' 
I  used  to  come  nearer  and  wriggle  and  bite  my  finger-nails, 
and  redden  and  say :  « I  do  not  know.'  And  if  she  chanced 
11 


162         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

to  stroke  my  hair  with  her  white  hand,  and  ask  me  how  old  I 
was,  I  would  run  away  and  call  from  a  distance :  '  Eleven  !  ' 

"Every  princess  and  fairy  of  my  visions,  as  I  read  the 
'Arabian  Nights,'  looked  and  walked  like  Mile.  d'Esgrignon; 
and  afterward,  when  my  drawing-master  gave  me  heads  from 
the  antique  to  copy,  I  noticed  that  their  hair  was  braided  like 
Mile.  d'Esgrignon's.  Still  later,  when  the  foolish  fancies  had 
vanished  one  by  one,  Mile.  Armande  remained  vaguely  in  my 
memory  as  a  type ;  that  Mile.  Armande  for  whom  men  made 
way  respectfully,  following  the  tall  brown-robed  figure  with 
their  eyes  along  the  parade  and  out  of  sight.  Her  exquisitely 
graceful  form,  the  rounded  curves  sometimes  revealed  by  a 
chance  gust  of  wind,  and  always  visible  to  my  eyes  in  spite 
of  the  ample  folds  of  stuff,  revisited  my  young  man's  dreams. 
Later  yet,  when  I  came  to  think  seriously  over  certain 
mysteries  of  human  thought,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  feeling 
of  reverence  was  first  inspired  in  me  by  something  expressed 
in  Mile.  d'Esgrignon's  face  and  bearing.  The  wonderful 
calm  of  her  face,  the  surpressed  passion  in  it,  the  dignity  of 
her  movements,  the  saintly  life  of  duties  fulfilled — all  this 
touched  and  awed  me.  Children  are  more  susceptible  than 
people  imagine  to  the  subtle  influences  of  ideas ;  they  never 
make  game  of  real  dignity ;  they  feel  the  charm  of  real 
graciousness,  and  beauty  attracts  them,  for  childhood  itself  is 
beautiful,  and  there  are  mysterious  ties  between  things  of  the 
same  nature. 

"  Mile.  d'Esgrignon  was  one  of  my  religions.  To  this  day 
I  can  never  climb  the  staircase  of  some  old  manor-house  but 
my  foolish  imagination  must  needs  picture  Mile.  Armande 
standing  there,  like  the  spirit  of  feudalism.  I  can  never  read 
old  chronicles  but  she  appears  before  my  eyes  in  the  shape 
of  some  famous  woman  of  old  time;  she  is  Agnes  Sorel, 
Marie  Touchet,  Gabrielle  ;  and  I  lend  her  all  the  love  that 
was  lost  in  her  heart,  all  the  love  that  she  never  expressed. 
The  angel  shape  seen  in  glimpses  through  the  haze.of.childr 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         163 

ish   fancies   visits    me   now   sometimes   across   the   mists   of 
dreams. ' ' 

Keep  this  portrait  in  mind,  it  is  a  faithful  picture  and 
sketch  of  character.  Mile.  d'Esgrignon  is  one  of  the  most 
instructive  figures  in  this  story ;  she  affords  an  example  of  the 
mischief  that  may  be  done  by  the  purest  goodness  for  lack  of 
intelligence. 

Two-thirds  of  the  emigres  returned  to  France  during  1804 
and  1805,  and  almost  every  exile  from  the  Marquis  d'Esgrig- 
non's  province  came  back  to  the  land  of  his  fathers.  There 
were  certainly  defections.  Men  of  good  birth  entered  the 
service  of  Napoleon,  and  went  into  the  army  or  held  places  at 
the  Imperial  court,  and  others  made  alliances  with  the  upstart 
families.  All  those  who  cast  in  their  lots  with  the  Empire 
retrieved  their  fortunes  and  recovered  their  estates,  thanks  to 
the  Emperor's  munificence  ;  and  these  for  the  most  part  went 
to  Paris  and  stayed  there.  But  some  eight  or  nine  families 
still  remained  true  to  the  proscribed  noblesse  and  loyal  to  the 
fallen  monarchy.  The  La  Roche-Guyons,  Nouastres,  Ver- 
neuils,  Casterans,  Troisvilles,  and  the  rest  were  some  of  them 
rich,  some  of  them  poor ;  but  money,  more  or  less,  scarcely 
counted  anything  among  them.  They  took  an  antiquarian  view 
of  themselves ;  for  them  the  age  and  preservation  of  the 
pedigree  was  the  one  all-important  matter ;  precisely  as,  for 
an  amateur,  the  weight  of  metal  in  a  coin  is  a  small  matter  in 
comparison  with  clean  lettering,  a  flawless  stamp,  and  high 
antiquity.  Of  these  families,  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon  was 
the  acknowledged  head.  His  house  became  their  inner 
chamber.  There  his  majesty,  Emperor  and  King,  was  never 
anything  but  "Monsieur  de  Buonaparte  ;  "  there  "  the  King  " 
meant  Louis  XVIII.,  then  at  Mittau  ;  there  the  Department 
was  still  the  Province,  and  the  prefecture  the  intcndance. 

The  marquis  was  honored  among  them  for  his  admirable 
behavior,  his  loyalty  as  a  noble,  his  undaunted  courage  ;  even 


164        THE  JEALOUSIES  OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

as  he  was  respected  throughout  the  town  for  his  misfortunes, 
his  fortitude,  his  steadfast  adherence  to  his  political  convic- 
tions. All  gently  bred  Imperialists  and  the  authorities  them- 
selves showed  as  much  indulgence  for  his  prejudices  as  respect 
for  his  personal  character;  but  there  was  another  and  a  large 
section  of  the  new  society  which  was  destined  to  be  known 
after  the  Restoration  as  the  Liberal  party  ;  and  these,  with  du 
Croisier  as  their  unacknowledged  head,  laughed  at  an  aristo- 
cratic oasis  which  nobody  might  enter  without  proof  of 
irreproachable  descent.  Their  animosity  was  all  the  more 
bitter  because  honest  country  squires  and  the  higher  officials, 
with  a  good  many  worthy  folk  in  the  town,  were  of  the  opinion 
that  all  the  best  society  thereof  was  to  be  found  in  the  Mar- 
quis d'Esgrignon's  salon.  The  prefect  himself,  the  Emperor's 
chamberlain,  made  overtures  to  the  d'Esgrignons,  humbly 
sending  his  wife  (a  Grandlieu)  as  ambassadress. 

Wherefore,  those  excluded  from  'the  miniature  provincial 
Faubourg  Saint-Germain  nicknamed  the  salon  "The  Collec- 
tion of  Antiquities,"  and  called  the  marquis  himself  "Mons- 
Carol."  The  receiver  of  taxes,  for  instance,  addressed  his 
applications  to  "  M.  Carol  (ci-devant  des  Grignons),"  mali- 
ciously adopting  the  obsolete  way  of  spelling. 

"For  my  own  part,"  said  Emile  Blondet,  "if  I  try  to  call 
up  childish  memories,  I  remember  that  the  nickname  of 
'  Collection  of  Antiquities  '  always  made  me  laugh,  in  spite  of 
my  respect — my  love,  I  ought  to  say — for  Mile.  d'Esgrignon. 
The  Hotel  d'Esgrignon  stood  at  the  angle  of  two  of  the  busiest 
thoroughfares  in  the  town,  and  not  five  hundred  paces  away 
from  the  market-place.  Two  of  the  drawing-room  windows 
looked  upon  the  street  and  two  upon  the  square ;  the  room 
was  like  a  glass  cage,  every  one  who  came  past  could  look 
through  it  from  side  to  side.  I  was  only  a  boy  of  twelve 
at  the  time,  but  I  thought,  even  then,  that  the  salon  was  one 
of  those  rare  curiosities  which  seem,  when  you  come  to  think 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.         165 

of  them  afterward,  to  lie  just  on  the  borderland  between 
reality  and  dreams,  so  that  you  can  scarcely  tell  to  which  side 
they  most  belong. 

"The  room,  the  ancient  Hall  of  Audience,  stood  above  a 
row  of  cellars  with  grated  air-holes,  once  the  prison-cells  of 
the  old  court-house,  now  converted  into  a  kitchen.  I  do  not 
know  that  the  magnificent  lofty  chimney-piece  of  the  Louvre, 
with  its  marvelous  carving,  seemed  more  wonderful  to  me 
than  the  vast  open  hearth  of  the  salon  d'Esgrignon  when  I 
saw  it  for  the  first  time.  It  was  covered  like  a  melon  with  a 
network  of  tracery.  Over  it  stood  an  equestrian  portrait  of 
Henry  III.,  under  whom  the  ancient  duchy  of  appanage 
reverted  to  the  crown ;  it  was  a  great  picture  executed  in  low 
relief,  and  set  in  a  carved  and  gilded  frame.  The  ceiling 
spaces  between  the  chestnut  cross-beams  in  the  fine  old  roof 
were  decorated  with  scroll-work  patterns ;  there  was  a  little 
faded  gilding  still  left  along  the  angles.  The  walls  were  cov- 
ered with  Flemish  tapestry,  six  scenes  from  the  Judgment  of 
Solomon,  framed  in  golden  garlands,  with  satyrs  and  cupids 
playing  among  the  leaves.  The  parquet  floor  had  been  laid 
down  by  the  present  marquis,  and  Chesnel  had  picked  up 
the  furniture  at  sales  of  the  wreckage  of  old  chateaux  between 
1793  and  1795  5  so  that  there  were  Louis  XIV.  consoles,  tables, 
clock-cases,  andirons,  candle-sconces  and  tapestry-covered 
chairs,  which  marvelously  completed  a  stately  room,  large 
out  of  all  proportion  to  the  house.  Luckily,  however,  there 
was  an  equally  lofty  antechamber,  the  ancient  Salle  des  Pas 
Perdus  of  the  presidial,  which  communicated  likewise  with  the 
magistrate's  deliberating  chamber,  used  by  the  d'Esgrignons 
as  a  dining-room. 

"Beneath  the  old  paneling,  amid  the  threadbare  braveries 
of  a  bygone  day,  some  eight  or  ten  dowagers  were  drawn  up 
in  state  in  a  quavering  line ;  some  with  palsied  heads,  others 
dark  and  shriveled  like  mummies ;  some  erect  and  stiff,  others 
bowed  and  bent,  but  all  of  them  tricked  out  in  more  or  less 


166         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

fantastic  costumes  as  far  as  possible  removed  from  the  fashion 
of  the  day,  with  be-ribboned  caps  above  their  curled  and 
powdered  'heads,'  and  old  discolored  lace.  No  painter 
however  earnest,  no  caricature  however  wild,  ever  caught  the 
haunting  fascination  of  those  aged  women ;  they  come  back 
to  me  in  dreams ;  their  puckered  faces  shape  themselves  in  my 
memory  whenever  I  meet  an  old  woman  who  puts  me  in  mind 
of  them  by  some  faint  resemblance  of  dress  or  feature.  And 
whether  it  is  that  misfortune  has  initiated  me  into  the  secrets 
of  irremediable  and  overwhelming  disaster;  whether  that  I  have 
come  to  understand  the  whole  range  of  human  feelings,  and, 
best  of  all,  the  thoughts  of  Old  Age  and  Regret ;  whatever  the 
reason,  nowhere  and  never  again  have  I  seen  among  the  living 
or  in  the  faces  of  the  dying  the  wan  look  of  certain  gray  eyes 
that  I  remember,  nor  the  dreadful  brightness  of  others  that 
were  black. 

"Neither  Hoffmann  nor  Maturin,  the  two  weirdest  imagi- 
nations of  our  time,  ever  gave  me  such  a  thrill  of  terror  as  I 
used  to  feel  when  I  watched  the  automaton  movements  of  those 
bodies  sheathed  in  whalebone.  The  paint  on  actors'  faces 
never  caused  me  a  shock;  I  could  see  below  it  the  rouge  in 
grain,  the  rouge  de  naissance,  to  quote  a  comrade  at  least  as 
malicious  as  I  can  be.  Years  had  leveled  those  women's 
faces,  and  at  the  same  time  furrowed  them  with  wrinkles,  till 
they  looked  like  the  heads  on  wooden  nutcrackers  carved  in 
Germany.  Peeping  in  through  the  window-panes,  I  gazed  at 
the  battered  bodies,  and  ill-jointed  limbs  (how  they  were 
fastened  together,  and,  indeed,  their  whole  anatomy  was  a 
mystery  I  never  attempted  to  explain) ;  I  saw  the  lantern 
jaws,  the  protuberant  bones,  the  abnormal  development  of 
the  hips;  and  the  movements  of  these  figures  as  they  came 
and  went  seemed  to  me  no  whit  less  extraordinary  than  their 
sepulchral  immobility  as  they  sat  round  the  card-tables. 

"  The  men  looked  gray  and  faded  like  the  ancient  tapestries 
on  the  wall ;  in  dress  they  were  much  more  like  the  men  of 


THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         167 

the  day,  but  even  they  were  not  altogether  convincingly  alive. 
Their  white  hair,  their  withered  waxen-hued  faces,  their  de- 
vastated foreheads  and  pale  eyes,  revealed  their  kinship  to  the 
women,  and  neutralized  any  effects  of  reality  borrowed  from 
their  costume. 

"  The  very  certainty  of  finding  all  these  people  seated  at  or 
among  the  tables  every  day  at  the  same  hours  invested  them 
at  length  in  my  eyes  with  a  sort  of  spectacular  interest  as  it 
were;  there  was  something  theatrical,  something  unearthly 
about  them. 

"  Whenever,  in  after  times,  I  have  gone  through  museums 
of  old  furniture  in  Paris,  London,  Munich,  or  Vienna,  with 
the  gray-headed  custodian  who  shows  you  the  splendors  of 
time  past,  I  have  peopled  the  rooms  with  figures  from  the 
Collection  of  Antiquities.  Often,  as  little  schoolboys  of  eight 
or  ten  we  used  to  propose  to  go  and  take  a  look  at  the  curiosi- 
ties in  their  glass  cage,  for  the  fun  of  the  thing.  But  as  soon 
as  I  caught  sight  of  Mile.  Armande's  sweet  face,  I  used  to 
tremble ;  and  there  was  a  trace  of  jealousy  in  my  admiration 
for  the  lovely  child  Victurnien,  who  belonged,  as  we  all  in- 
stinctively felt,  to  a  different  and  higher  order  of  being  from 
our  own.  It  struck  me  as  something  indescribably  strange  that 
the  young  fresh  creature  should  be  there  in  that  cemetery 
awakened  before  the  time.  We  could  not  have  explained 
our  thoughts  to  ourselves,  yet  we  felt  that  we  were  bourgeois, 
utterly  insignificant,  and  of  no  account  in  the  presence  of  that 
proud  court." 

The  disasters  of  1813  and  1814,  which  brought  about  the 
downfall  of  Napoleon,  gave  new  life  to  the  Collection  of 
Antiquities,  and  what  was  more  than  life,  the  hope  of  recov- 
ering their  past  importance;  but  the  events  of  1815,  the 
troubles  of  the  foreign  occupation,  and  the  vacillating  policy 
of  the  Government  until  the  fall  of  M.  Decazes,  all  con- 
tributed to  defer  the  fulfillment  of  the  expectations  of  the 


168         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

personages  so  vividly  described  by  Blondet.  This  story, 
therefore,  only  begins  to  shape  itself  in  1822. 

In  1822  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon's  fortunes  had  not  im- 
proved in  spite  of  the  changes  worked  by  the  Restoration  in 
the  condition  of  Emigres.  Of  all  nobles  hardly  hit  by  Revo- 
lutionary legislation,  his  case  was  the  hardest.  Like  other 
great  families,  the  d'Esgrignons  before  1789  derived  the 
greater  part  of  their  income  from  their  rights  as  lords  of  the 
manor  in  the  shape  of  dues  paid  by  those  who  held  of  them ; 
and,  naturally,  the  old  seigneurs  had  reduced  the  size  of  the 
holdings  in  order  to  swell  the  amounts  paid  in  quit-rents  and 
heriots.  Families  in  this  position  were  hopelessly  ruined. 
They  were  not  affected  by  the  ordinance  by  which  Louis 
XVIII.  put  the  emigres  into  possession  of  such  of  their  lands 
as  had  not  been  sold ;  and  at  a  later  date  it  was  impossible 
that  the  law  of  indemnity  should  indemnify  them.  Their 
suppressed  rights,  as  everybody  knows,  were  revived  in  the 
shape  of  a  land  tax  known  by  the  very  name  of  domaines, 
but  the  money  went  into  the  coffers  of  the  State. 

The  marquis  by  his  position  belonged  to  that  small  section 
of  the  Royalist  party  which  would  hear  of  no  kind  of  com- 
promise with  those  whom  they  styled,  not  Revolutionaries, 
but  revolted  subjects,  or,  in  more  parliamentary  language,  they 
had  no  dealings  with  Liberals  or  Constitutionnels.  Such 
Royalists,  nicknamed  Ultras  by  the  opposition,  took  for 
leaders  and  heroes  those  courageous  orators  of  the  Right, 
who  from  the  very  beginning  attempted,  with  M.  de  Polignac, 
to  protest  against  the  charter  granted  by  Louis  XVIII.  This 
they  regarded  as  an  ill-advised  edict  extorted  from  the  Crown 
by  the  necessity  of  the  moment,  only  to  be  annulled  later  on. 
And,  therefore,  so  far  from  cooperating  with  the  King  to 
bring  about  a  new  condition  of  things,  the  Marquis  d'Esgrig- 
non  stood  aloof,  an  upholder  of  the  straitest  sect  of  the  Right 
in  politics,  until  such  time  as  his  vast  fortune  should  be  restored 
to  him. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        169 

The  miracles  of  the  Restoration  of  1814,  the  still  greater 
miracle  of  Napoleon's  return  in  1815,  the  portents  of  a  second 
flight  of  the  Bourbons,  and  a  second  reinstatement  (that 
almost  fabulous  phase  of  contemporary  history),  all  these 
things  took  the  marquis  by  surprise  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven. 
At  that  time  of  life,  the  most  high-spirited  men  of  their  age 
were  not  so  much  vanquished  as  worn  out  in  the  struggle  with 
the  Revolution;  their  activity,  in  their  remote  provincial 
retreats,  had  turned  into  a  passionately  held  and  immovable 
conviction ;  and  almost  all  of  them  were  shut  in  by  the  ener- 
vating, easy  round  of  daily  life  in  the  country.  Could  worse 
luck  befall  a  political  party  than  this — to  be  represented  by 
old  men  at  a  time  when  its  ideas  are  already  stigmatized  as 
old-fashioned  ? 

When  the  legitimate  sovereign  appeared  to  be  firmly  seated 
on  the  throne  again  in  1818,  the  marquis  asked  himself  what 
a  man  of  seventy  should  do  at  court ;  and  what  duties,  what 
office,  he  could  discharge  there  ?  The  noble  and  high-minded 
d'Esgrignon  was  fain  to  be  content  with  the  triumph  of  the 
Monarchy  and  religion,  while  he  waited  for  the  results  of 
that  unhoped-for,  indecisive  victory,  which  proved  to  be 
simply  an  armistice.  He  continued  as  before,  lord-para- 
mount of  his  salon,  so  felicitously  named  the  Collection  of 
Antiquities. 

But  when  the  victors  of  1793  became  the  vanquished  in 
their  turn,  the  nickname  given  at  first  in  jest  began  to  be 
used  in  bitter  earnest.  The  town  was  no  more  free  than  other 
country  towns  from  the  hatreds  and  jealousies  bred  of  party 
spirit.  Du  Croisier,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  married  the 
rich  old  maid  who  had  refused  him  at  first ;  carrying  her  off 
from  his  rival,  the  darling  of  the  aristocratic  quarter,  a  certain 
chevalier  whose  illustrious  name  will  be  sufficiently  hidden  by 
suppressing  it  altogether,  in  accordance  with  the  usage  formerly 
adopted  in  the  place  itself,  where  he  was  known  by  his  title 
only.  He  was  "  the  chevalier "  in  the  town,  as  the  Comte 


170         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

d'Artois  was  "  monsieur  "  at  court.  Now,  not  only  had  that 
marriage  produced  a  war  after  the  provincial  manner,  in 
which  all  weapons  are  fair ;  it  had  hastened  the  separation  of 
the  great  and  little  noblesse,  of  the  aristocratic  and  bourgeois 
social  elements,  which  had  been  united  for  a  little  space  by 
the  heavy  weight  of  Napoleonic  rule.  After  the  pressure  was 
removed,  there  followed  that  sudden  revival  of  class  divisions 
which  did  so  much  harm  to  the  country. 

The  most  national  of  all  sentiments  in  France  is  vanity. 
The  wounded  vanity  of  the  many  induced  a  thirst  for 
Equality ;  though,  as  the  most  ardent  innovator  will  some  day 
discover,  Equality  is  an  impossibility.  The  Royalists  pricked 
the  Liberals  in  the  most  sensitive  spots,  and  this  happened  espe- 
cially in  the  provinces,  where  either  party  accused  the  other 
of  unspeakable  atrocities.  In  those  days  the  blackest  deeds 
were  done  in  politics,  to  secure  public  opinion  on  one  side 
or  another,  to  catch  the  votes  of  that  public  of  fools  which 
holds  up  hands  for  those  that  are  clever  enough  to  serve  out 
weapons  to  them.  It  is  very  difficult  in  a  country  town  to 
avoid  a  man-to-man  conflict  of  this  kind  over  interests  or 
questions  which  in  Paris  appear  in  a  more  general  and 
theoretical  form,  with  the  result  that  political  combatants 
also  rise  to  a  higher  level  ;  M.  Laffitte,  for  example,  or  M. 
Casimir  Perier  can  respect  M.  de  Villele  or  M.  de  Peyronnet 
as  a  man.  M.  Laffitte,  who  drew  the  fire  on  the  ministry, 
would  have  given  them  an  asylum  in  his  house  if  they  had  fled 
thither  on  the  2pth  of  July,  1830.  Benjamin  Constant  sent  a 
copy  of  his  work  on  Religion  to  the  Vicomte  de  Chateau- 
briand, with  a  flattering  letter  acknowledging  benefits  received 
from  the  former  minister. 

In  such  warfare  as  this,  waged  ceremoniously  and  without 
rancor  on  the  side  of  the  Antiquities,  while  du  Croisier's 
faction  went  so  far  as  to  use  the  poisoned  weapons  of  savages 
— in  this  warfare  the  advantages  of  wit  and  delicate  irony  lay 
on  the  side  of  the  nobles.  But  it  should  never_  be  forgotten. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        171 

that  the  wounds  made  by  the  tongue  and  the  eyes,  by  gibe  or 
slight,  are  the  last  of  all  to  heal.  When  the  chevalier  turned 
his  back  on  mixed  society  and  intrenched  himself  on  the 
Mons  Sacer  of  aristocracy,  his  witticisms  thenceforward  were 
directed  at  du  Croisier's  salon  ;  he  stirred  up  the  fires  of  war, 
not  knowing  how  far  the  spirit  of  revenge  was  to  urge  the 
rival  faction.  None  but  purists  and  loyal  gentlemen  and 
women  sure  one  of  another  entered  the  Hotel  d'Esgrignon ; 
they  committed  no  indiscretions  of  any  kind;  they  had 
their  ideas,  true  or  false,  good  or  bad,  noble  or  trivial,  but 
there  was  nothing  to  laugh  at  in  all  this.  If  the  Liberals 
meant  to  make  the  nobles  ridiculous,  they  were  obliged  to 
fasten  on  the  political  actions  of  their  opponents ;  while  the 
intermediate  party,  composed  of  officials  and  others  who 
paid  court  to  the  higher  powers,  kept  the  nobles  informed  of 
all  that  was  done  and  said  in  the  Liberal  camp,  and  much  of 
it  was  abundantly  laughable.  Du  Croisier's  adherents  smarted 
under  a  sense  of  inferiority,  which  increased  their  thirst  for 
revenge. 

In  .1822,  du  Croisier  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  manu- 
facturing interest  of  the  province,  as  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon 
headed  the  noblesse.  Each  represented  his  party.  But  du 
Croisier,  instead  of  giving  himself  out  frankly  for  a  man  of  the 
extreme  Left,  ostensibly  adopted  the  opinions  formulated  at 
a  later  day  by  the  221  deputies. 

By  taking  up  this  position,  he  could  keep  in  touch  with  the 
magistrates  and  local  officials  and  the  capitalists  of  the  depart- 
ment. Du  Croisier's  salon,  a  power  at  least  equal  to  the  salon 
d'Esgrignon,  larger  numerically,  as  well  as  younger  and  more 
energetic,  made  itself  felt  all  over  the  countryside  ;  the  Collec- 
tion of  Antiquities,  on  the  other  hand,  remained  inert,  a  passive 
appendage,  as  it  were,  of  a  central  authority  which  was  often 
embarrassed  by  its  own  partisans ;  for  not  merely  did  they 
encourage  the  Government  in  a  mistaken  policy,  but  some  of 
its  most  absurd  and  fatal  blunders  were  made  in  consequence 


172         THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

of  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  it  by  the  Conservative 
party. 

The  Liberals,  so  far,  had  never  contrived  to  carry  their 
candidate.  The  department  declined  to  obey  their  command, 
knowing  that  du  Croisier,  if  elected,  would  take  his  place  on 
the  Left  Centre  benches,  and  as  far  as  possible  to  the  Left. 
Du  Croisier  was  in  correspondence  with  the  Brothers  Keller, 
the  bankers,  the  oldest  of  whom  shone  conspicuous  among 
"  the  nineteen  deputies  of  the  Left,"  that  phalanx  made 
famous  by  the  efforts  of  the  entire  Liberal  press.  This  same 
M.  Keller,  moreover,  was  related  by  marriage  to  the  Comte 
de  Gondreville,  a  Constitutional  peer  who  remained  in  favor 
with  Louis  XVIII.  For  these  reasons,  the  Constitutional 
Opposition  (as  distinct  from  the  liberal  party)  was  always  pre- 
pared to  vote  at  the  last  moment,  not  for  the  candidate  whom 
they  professed  to  support,  but  for  du  Croisier,  if  that  worthy 
could  succeed  in  gaining  a  sufficient  number  of  Royalist  votes; 
but  at  every  election  du  Croisier  was  regularly  thrown  out  by 
the  Royalists.  The  leaders  of  that  party,  taking  their  tone 
from  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon,  had  pretty  thoroughly  fathomed 
and  gauged  their  man ;  and  with  each  defeat,  du  Croisier  and 
his  party  waxed  more  bitter.  Nothing  so  effectually  stirs  up 
strife  as  the  failure  of  some  snare  set  with  elaborate  pains. 

In  1822  there  seemed  to  be  a  lull  in  hostilities  which  had 
been  kept  up  with  great  spirit  during  the  first  four  years  of  the 
Restoration.  The  salon  du  Croisier  and  the  salon  d'Esgrignon, 
having  measured  their  strength  and  weakness,  were  in  all 
probability  waiting  for  opportunity,  that  Providence  of  party 
strife.  Ordinary  persons  were  content  with  the  surface  quiet 
which  deceived  the  Government ;  but  those  who  knew  du 
Croisier  better  were  well  aware  that  the  passion  of  revenge  in 
him,  as  in  all  men  whose  whole  life  consists  in  mental  activity, 
is  implacable,  especially  when  political  ambitions  are  involved. 
About  this  time  du  Croisier,  who  used  to  turn  white  and  red 
at  the  bare  mention  of  d'Esgrignon  or  the  chevalier,  and 


THE  JEALOUSIES  OF  A   COUNTRY  TOWN.        173 

shuddered  at  the  name  of  the  Collection  of  Antiquities,  chose 
to  wear  the  impassive  countenance  of  a  savage.  He  smiled 
upon  his  enemies,  hating  them  but  the  more  deeply,  watching 
them  the  more  narrowly  from  hour  to  hour.  One  of  his  own 
party,  who  seconded  him  in  these  calculations  of  cold  wrath, 
was  the  president  of  the  Tribunal,  M.  du  Ronceret,  a  little 
country  squire,  who  had  vainly  endeavored  to  gain  admittance 
among  the  Antiquities. 

The  d'Esgrignons'  little  fortune,  carefully  administered  by 
Maitre  Chesnel,  was  barely  sufficient  for  the  worthy  marquis' 
needs  ;  for  though  he  lived  without  the  slightest  ostentation, 
he  also  lived  like  a  noble.  The  governor  found  by  his  lord- 
ship the  bishop  for  the  hope  of  the  house,  the  young  Comte 
Victurnien  d'Esgrignon,  was  an  elderly  Oratorian  who  must 
be  paid  a  certain  salary,  although  he  lived  with  the  family. 
The  wages  of  a  cook,  a  waiting-woman  for  Mile.  Armande, 
an  old  valet  for  M.  le  Marquis,  and  a  couple  of  other  servants, 
together  with  the  daily  expenses  of  the  household,  and  the 
cost  of  an  education  for  which  nothing  was  spared,  absorbed 
the  whole  family  income,  in  spite  of  Mile.  Armande's  econo- 
mies, in  spite  of  Chesnel's  careful  management,  and  the  ser- 
vants' affection.  As  yet,  Chesnel  had  not  been  able  to  set 
about  repairs  at  the  ruined  castle ;  he  was  waiting  till  the 
leases  fell  in  to  raise  the  rent  of  the  farms,  for  rents  had  been 
rising  lately,  partly  on  account  of  improved  methods  of  agri- 
culture, partly  by  the  fall  in  the  value  of  money,  of  which  the 
landlord  would  get  the  benefit  at  the  expiration  of  leases 
granted  in  1809. 

The  marquis  himself  knew  nothing  of  the  details  of  the 
management  of  the  house  or  of  his  property.  He  would  have 
been  thunderstruck  if  he  had  been  told  of  the  excessive  pre- 
cautions needed  "  to  make  both  ends  of  the  year  meet  in 
December,"  to  use  the  housewife's  saying,  and  he  was  so  near 
the  end  of  his  life  that  every  one  shrank  from  opening  his 
eyes.  The  marquis  and  his  adherents  believed  that  a  House,  to 


174         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN, 

which  no  one  at  Court  or  in  the  Government  gave  a  thought, 
a  House  that  was  never  heard  of  beyond  the  gates  of  the  town, 
save  here  and  there  in  the  same  department,  was  about  to 
revive  its  ancient  greatness,  to  shine  forth  in  all  its  glory. 
The  d'Esgrignons'  line  should  reappear  with  renewed  lustre 
in  the  person  of  Victurnien,  just  as  the  despoiled  nobles  came 
into  their  own  again,  and  the  handsome  heir  to  a  great  estate 
would  be  in  a  position  to  go  to  Court,  enter  the  King's  ser- 
vice, and  marry  (as  other  d'Esgrignons  had  done  before  him) 
a  Navarreins,  a  Cadignan,  a  d'Uxelles,  a  Beauseant,  a  Bla- 
mont-Chauvry ;  a  wife,  in  short,  who  should  unite  all  the  dis- 
tinctions of  birth  and  beauty,  wit  and  health,  and  character. 
The  intimates  who  came  to  play  their  game  of  cards  of  an 
evening — the  Troisvilles  (pronounced  Treville),  the  La  Roche- 
Guyons,  the  Castdrans  (pronounced  Cateran),  and  the  Due  de 
Verneuil — had  all  so  long  been  accustomed  to  look  up  to  the 
marquis  as  a  person  of  immense  consequence,  that  they  en- 
couraged him  in  such  notions  as  these.  They  were  perfectly 
sincere  in  their  belief;  and,  indeed,  it  would  have  been  well 
founded  if  they  could  have  wiped  out  the  history  of  the  last 
forty  years.  But  the  most  honorable  and  undoubted  sanctions 
of  right,  such  as  Louis  XVIII.  had  tried  to  set  on  record  when 
he  dated  the  Charter  from  the  one-and-twentieth  year  of  his 
reign,  only  exist  when  ratified  by  the  general  consent.  The 
d'Esgrignons  not  only  lacked  the  very  rudiments  of  the  lan- 
guage of  latter-day  politics,  to  wit,  money,  the  great  modern 
relief,  or  sufficient  rehabilitation  of  nobility;  but,  in  their 
case,  too,  "historical  continuity"  was  lacking,  and  that  is  a 
kind  of  renown  which  tells  quite  as  much  at  Court  as  on  the 
battlefield,  in  diplomatic  circles  as  in  Parliament,  with  a  book, 
or  in  connection  with  an  adventure ;  it  is,  as  it  were,  a  sacred 
ampulla  poured  upon  the  heads  of  each  successive  generation. 
Whereas  a  noble  family,  inactive  and  forgotten,  is  very  much 
in  the  position  of  a  hard-featured,  poverty-stricken,  simple- 
minded,  and  virtuous  maid,  these  qualifications  being  the  four 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        175 

cardinal  points  of  misfortune.  The  marriage  of  a  daughter  of 
the  Troisvilles  with  General  Montcornet,  so  far  from  opening 
the  eyes  of  the  Antiquities,  very  nearly  brought  about  a  rup- 
ture between  the  Troisvilles  and  the  salon  d'Esgrignon,  the 
latter  declaring  that  the  Troisvilles  were  mixing  themselves 
up  with  all  sorts  of  people. 

There  was  one,  and  one  only,  among  all  these  people  who 
did  not  share  their  illusions.  And  that  one,  needless  to  say, 
was  Chesnel  the  notary.  Although  his  devotion,  sufficiently 
proved  already,  was  simply  unbounded  for  the  great  house 
now  reduced  to  three  persons  ;  although  he  accepted  all  their 
ideas,  and  thought  them  nothing  less  than  right,  he  had  too 
much  commonsense,  he  was  too  good  a  man  of  business  to 
more  than  half  the  families  in  the  department,  to  miss  the 
significance  of  the  great  changes  that  were  taking  place  in 
people's  minds,  or  to  be  blind  to  the  different  conditions 
brought  about  by  industrial  development  and  modern  manners. 
He  had  watched  the  Revolution  pass  through  the  violent 
phase  of  1793,  when  men,  women,  and  children  wore  arms, 
and  heads  fell  on  the  scaffold,  and  victories  were  won  in 
pitched  battles  with  Europe  ;  and  now  he  saw  the  same  forces 
quietly  at  work  in  men's  minds,  in  the  shape  of  ideas  which 
sanctioned  the  issues.  The  soil  had  been  cleared,  the  seed 
sown,  and  now  came  the  harvest.  To  his  thinking,  the  Revolu- 
tion had  formed  the  mind  of  the  younger  generation ;  he 
touched  the  hard  facts,  and  knew  that  although  there  were 
countless  unhealed  wounds,  what  had  been  done  was  done  past 
recall.  The  death  of  a  king  on  the  scaffold,  the  protracted 
agony  of  a  queen,  the  division  of  the  nobles'  lands,  in  his 
eyes  were  so  many  binding  contracts ;  and  where  so  many  vested 
interests  were  involved,  it  was  not  likely  that  those  concerned 
would  allow  them  to  be  attacked.  Chesnel  saw  clearly.  His 
fanatical  attachment  to  the  d'Esgrignons  was  whole-hearted, 
but  it  was  not  blind,  and  it  was  all  the  fairer  for  this.  The 
young  monk's  faith  that  sees  heaven  laid  open  and  beholds  the 


176         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A   COUNTRY  TOWN. 

angels  is  something  far  below  the  power  of  the  old  monk  who 
points  them  out  to  him.  The  ex-steward  was  like  the  old  monk  ; 
he  would  have  given  his  life  to  defend  a  worm-eaten  shrine. 

He  tried  to  explain  the  "  innovations  "  to  his  old  master, 
using  a  thousand  tactful  precautions ;  sometimes  speaking  jest- 
ingly, sometimes  affecting  surprise  or  sorrow  over  this  or  that ; 
but  he  always  met  the  same  prophetic  smile  on  the  marquis' 
lips,  the  same  fixed  conviction  in  the  marquis'  mind,  that 
these  follies  would  go  by  like  others.  Events  contributed 
in  a  way  which  has  escaped  attention  to  assist  such  noble 
champions  of  forlorn  hopes  to  cling  to  their  superstitions. 
What  could  Chesnel  do  when  the  old  marquis  said,  with  a 
lordly  gesture:  "  God  swept  away  Bonaparte  with  his  armies, 
his  new  great  vassals,  his  crowned  kings,  and  his  vast  con- 
ceptions !  God  will  deliver  us  from  the  rest."  And  Chesnel 
hung  his  head  sadly,  and  did  not  dare  to  answer:  "  It  cannot 
be  God's  will  to  sweep  away  France."  Yet  both  of  them 
were  grand  figures ;  the  one,  standing  out  against  the  torrent 
of  facts  like  an  ancient  block  of  lichen-covered  granite,  still 
upright  in  the  depths  of  an  Alpine  gorge ;  the  other,  watching 
the  course  of  the  flood  to  turn  it  to  account.  Then  the  good 
gray-headed  notary  would  groan  over  the  irreparable  havoc 
which  these  superstitions  were  sure  to  work  in  the  mind,  the 
habits,  and  ideas  of  the  Comte  Victurnien  d'Esgrignon. 

Idolized  by  his  father,  idolized  by  his  aunt,  the  young  heir 
was  a  spoilt  child  in  every  sense  of  the  word  ;  but  still  a  spoilt 
child  who  justified  paternal  and  maternal  illusions.  Maternal, 
be  it  said,  for  Victurnien' s  aunt  was  truly  a  mother  to  him  ;  and 
yet,  however  careful  and  tender  she  may  be  that  never  bore  a 
child,  there  is  a  something  lacking  in  her  motherhood.  A 
mother's  second-sight  cannot  be  acquired.  An  aunt,  bound 
to  her  nursing  by  ties  of  such  a  pure  affection  as  united  Mile. 
Armande  to  Victurnien,  may  love  as  much  as  a  mother  might ; 
may  be  as  careful,  as  kind,  as  tender,  as  indulgent,  but  she 
lacks  the  mother's  instinctive  knowledge  when  and  how  to  be 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        177 

severe ;  she  has  no  sudden  warnings,  none  of  the  uneasy  pre- 
sentiments of  the  mother's  heart ;  for  a  mother,  bound  to  her 
child  from  the  beginnings  of  life  by  all  the  fibres  of  her  being, 
is  still  conscious  of  the  communication,  still  vibrates  with  the 
shock  of  every  trouble,  and  thrills  with  every  joy  in  the  child's 
life  as  if  it  were  her  own.  If  Nature  has  made  of  woman, 
physically  speaking,  a  neutral  ground,  it  has  not  been  for- 
bidden to  her,  under  certain  conditions,  to  identify  herself 
completely  with  her  offspring.  When  she  has  not  merely 
given  life,  but  given  of  her  whole  life,  you  behold  that  wonder- 
ful, unexplained,  and  inexplicable  thing — the  love  of  a  woman 
for  one  of  her  children  above  the  others.  The  outcome  of 
this  story  is  one  more  proof  of  a  proven  truth — a  mother's 
place  cannot  be  filled.  A  mother  foresees  danger  long  before 
a  Mile.  Armande  can  admit  the  possibility  of  it,  even  if  the 
mischief  is  done.  The  one  prevents  the  evil,  the  other 
remedies  it.  And  beside,  in  the  maiden's  motherhood  there 
is  an  element  of  blind  adoration,  she  cannot  bring  herself  to 
scold  a  beautiful  boy. 

A  practical  knowledge  of  life  and  the  experience  of  busi- 
ness had  taught  the  old  notary  a  habit  of  distrustful,  clear- 
sighted observation  something  akin  to  the  mother's  instinct. 
But  Chesnel  counted  for  so  little  in  the  house  (especially  since 
he  had  fallen  into  something  like  disgrace  over  that  unlucky 
project  of  a  marriage  between  a  d'Esgrignon  and  a  du  Croisier), 
that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  adhere  blindly  in  future  to 
the  family  doctrines.  He  was  a  common  soldier ;  faithful  to 
his  post,  and  ready  to  give  his  life ;  it  was  never  likely  that 
they  would  take  his  advice,  even  in  the  height  of  the  storm ; 
unless  chance  should  bring  him,  like  the  King's  bedesman  in 
"The  Antiquary,"  to  the  edge  of  the  sea,  when  the  old 
baronet  and  his  daughter  were  caught  by  the  high  tide. 

Du  Croisier  caught  a  glimpse  of  his  revenge  in  the  anomalous 
education  given  to  the  lad.  He  hoped,  to  quote  the  expres- 
sive words  of  the  author  quoted  above,  "to  drown  the  lamb 
12 


178         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

in  its  mother's  milk."  This  was  the  hope  which  had  produced 
his  taciturn  resignation  and  brought  that  savage  smile  on  his 
lips. 

The  young  Comte  Victurnien  was  taught  to  believe  in  his 
own  supremacy  so  soon  as  an  idea  could  enter  his  head.  All 
the  great  nobles  of  the  realm  were  his  peers,  his  one  superior 
was  the  King,  and  the  rest  of  mankind  were  his  inferiors, 
people  with  whom  he  had  nothing  in  common,  toward  whom 
he  had  no  duties.  They  were  defeated  and  conquered  enemies, 
whom  he  need  not  take  into  account  for  a  moment ;  their 
opinions  could  not  affect  a  noble,  and  they  all  owed  him 
respect.  Unluckily,  with  the  rigorous  logic  of  youth,  which 
leads  children  and  young  people  to  proceed  to  extremes 
whether  good  or  bad,  Victurnien  pushed  these  conclusions 
to  their  utmost  consequences.  His  own  external  advantages, 
moreover,  confirmed  him  in  his  beliefs.  He  had  been  extra- 
ordinarily beautiful  as  a  child  ;  he  became  as  accomplished  a 
young  man  as  any  father  could  wish. 

Personal  beauty  has  this  in  common  with  noble  birth,  it 
cannot  be  acquired  afterward ;  it  is  everywhere  recognized, 
and  often  is  more  valued  than  either  money  or  brains ;  beauty 
has  only  to  appear  and  triumph ;  nobody  asks  more  of  beauty 
than  that  it  should  simply  exist. 

Fate  had  endowed  Victurnien,  over  and  above  the  privileges 
of  good  looks  and  noble  birth,  with  a  high  spirit,  a  wonderful 
aptitude  of  comprehension,  and  a  good  memory.  His  educa- 
tion, therefore,  had  been  complete.  He  knew  a  good  deal 
more  than  is  usually  known  by  young  provincial  nobles,  who 
develop  into  highly  distinguished  sportsmen,  owners  of  land, 
and  consumers  of  tobacco ;  and  are  put  to  treat  art,  sciences, 
letters,  poetry,  or  anything  offensively  above  their  intellects 
cavalierly  enough.  Such  gifts  of  nature  and  education  surely 
would  one  day  realize  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon's  ambitions ;  he 
already  saw  his  son  a  Marshal  of  France  if  Victurnien's  tastes 
were  for  the  army ;  an  ambassador  if  diplomacy  held  any  at- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        179 

tractions  for  him  ;  a  cabinet  minister  if  that  career  seemed  good 
in  his  eyes ;  every  place  in  the  State  belonged  to  Victurnien. 
And,  most  gratifying  thought  of  all  for  a  father,  the  young 
count  would  have  made  his  way  in  the  world  by  his  own  merits 
even  if  he  had  not  been  a  d'Esgrignon. 

All  through  his  happy  childhood  and  golden  youth,  Victur- 
nien had  never  met  with  opposition  to  his  wishes.  He  had 
been  the  king  of  the  house ;  no  one  curbed  the  little  prince's 
will ;  and  naturally  he  grew  up  insolent  and  audacious,  selfish 
as  a  prince,  self-willed  as  the  most  high-spirited  cardinal  of 
the  Middle  Ages — defects  of  character  which  any  one  might 
guess  from  his  qualities,  essentially  those  of  the  noble. 

The  chevalier  was  a  man  of  the  good  old  times  when  the 
Gray  Musketeers  were  the  terror  of  the  Paris  theatres,  when 
they  horsewhipped  the  watch  and  drubbed  servers  of  writs, 
and  played  a  host  of  page's  pranks,  at  which  majesty  was  wont 
to  smile  so  long  as  they  were  amusing.  This  charming  deceiver 
and  hero  of  the  ruelles  had  no  small  share  in  bringing  about 
the  disasters  which  afterward  befell.  The  amiable  old  gentle- 
man, with  nobody  to  understand  him,  was  not  a  little  pleased 
to  find  a  budding  Faublas,  who  looked  the  part  to  admiration, 
and  put  him  in  mind  of  his  own  young  days.  So,  making  no 
allowance  for  the  difference  of  the  times,  he  sowed  the  maxims 
of  a  roue  of  the  Encyclopaedic  period  broadcast  in  the  boy's 
mind.  H~  told  wicked  anecdotes  of  the  reign  of  his  majesty 
Louis  XV.;  he  glorified  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  year 
1750 ;  he  told  of  the  orgies  in  petites  maisons  (little  houses — 
abodes  of  mistresses),  the  follies  of  courtesans,  the  capital 
tricks  played  on  creditors,  the  manners,  in  short,  which  fur- 
nished forth  Dancourt's  comedies  and  Beaumarchais'  epigrams. 
And  unfortunately,  the  corruption  lurking  beneath  the  utmost 
polish  tricked  itself  out  in  Voltairean  wit.  If  the  chevalier 
went  rather  too  far  at  times,  he  always  added  as  a  corrective 
that  a  man  must  always  behave  himself  like  a  gentleman. 

Of  all  this  discourse,  Victurnien  comprehended  just  so  much 


180         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

as  flattered  his  passions.  From  the  first  he  saw  his  old  father 
laughing  with  the  chevalier.  The  two  elderly  men  considered 
that  the  pride  of  a  d'Esgrignon  was  a  sufficient  safeguard 
against  anything  unbefitting ;  as  for  a  dishonorable  action,  no 
one  in  the  house  imagined  that  a  d'Esgrignon  could  be  guilty 
of  it.  HONOR,  the  great  principle  of  Monarchy,  was  planted 
firm  like  a  beacon  in  the  hearts  of  the  family ;  it  lighted  up 
the  least  action,  it  kindled  the  least  thought  of  a  d'Esgrignon. 
"A  d'Esgrignon  ought  not  to  permit  himself  to  do  such  and 
such  a  thing,  he  bears  a  name,  which  pledges  him  to  make  the 
future  worthy  of  the  past  " — a  noble  teaching  which  should 
have  been  sufficient  in  itself  to  keep  alive  the  tradition  of 
noblesse — had  been,  as  it  were,  the  burden  of  Victurnien's 
cradle  song.  He  heard  them  from  the  old  marquis,  from 
Mile.  Armande,  from  Chesnel,  from  the  intimates  of  the  house. 
And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  good  and  evil  met,  and  in  equal 
forces,  in  the  boy's  soul. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen,  Victurnien  went  into  society.  He 
noticed  some  slight  discrepancies  between  the  outer  world  of 
the  town  and  the  inner  world  of  the  Hotel  d'Esgrignon,  but 
he  in  no  wise  tried  to  seek  the  causes  of  them.  And,  indeed, 
the  causes  were  to  be  found  in  Paris.  He  had  yet  to  learn 
that  the  men  who  spoke  their  minds  out  so  boldly  in  evening 
talk  with  his  father  were  extremely  careful  of  "what  they  said 
in  the  presence  of  the  hostile  persons  with  whom  their  inter- 
ests compelled  them  to  mingle.  His  own  father  had  won  the 
right  of  freedom  of  speech.  Nobody  dreamed  of  contradict- 
ing an  old  man  of  seventy,  and  beside,  every  one  was  willing 
to  overlook  fidelity  to  the  old  order  of  things  in  a  man  who 
had  been  violently  despoiled. 

Victurnien  was  deceived  by  appearances,  and  his  behavior 
set  up  the  backs  of  the  townspeople.  In  his  impetuous  way 
he  tried  to  carry  matters  with  too  high  a  hand  over  some  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  sport,  which  ended  in  formidable  law- 
suits, hushed  up  by  Chesnel  for  money  paid  down.  Nobody 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        181 

dared  to  tell  the  marquis  of  these  things.  You  may  judge  of 
his  astonishment  if  he  had  heard  that  his  son  had  been  prose- 
cuted for  shooting  over  his  lands,  his  domains,  his  covers, 
under  the  reign  of  a  son  of  St.  Louis  !  People  were  too  much 
afraid  of  the  possible  consequences  to  tell  him  about  such 
trifles,  Chesnel  said. 

The  young  count  indulged  in  other  escapades  in  the  town. 
These  the  chevalier  regarded  as  "amourettes"  but  they  cost 
Chesnel  something  considerable  in  portions  for  forsaken  dam- 
sels seduced  under  imprudent  promises  of  marriage  :  yet  other 
cases  there  were  which  came  under  an  article  of  the  Code  as 
to  the  abduction  of  minors;  and  but  for  Chesnel's  timely 
intervention,  the  new  law  would  have  been  allowed  to  take  its 
brutal  course,  and  it  is  hard  to  say  where  the  count  might 
have  ended.  Victurnien  grew  the  bolder  for  these  victories 
over  bourgeois  justice.  He  was  so  accustomed  to  be  pulled 
out  of  scrapes,  that  he  never  thought  twice  before  any  prank. 
Courts  of  law,  in  his  opinion,  were  bugbears  to  frighten 
people,  but  had  no  hold  on  him.  Things  which  he  would 
have  blamed  in  common  people  were  for  him  only  pardonable 
amusements.  His  disposition  to  treat  the  new  laws  cavalierly 
while  obeying  the  maxims  of  a  Code  for  aristocrats,  his  beha- 
vior and  character,  were  all  pondered,  analyzed,  and  tested 
by  a  few  adroit  persons  in  du  Croisier's  interests.  These 
people  supported  each  other  in  the  effort  to  make  the  people 
believe  that  Liberal  slanders  were  revelations,  and  that  the 
Ministerial  policy  at  bottom  meant  a  return  to  the  old  order 
of  things. 

What  a  bit  of  luck  t»  find  something  by  way  of  proof  of 
their  assertions !  President  du  Ronceret,  and  the  public 
prosecutor  likewise,  lent  themselves  admirably,  so  far  as  was 
compatible  with  their  duty  as  magistrates,  to  the  design  of 
letting  off  the  offender  as  easily  as  possible  ;  indeed,  they 
went  deliberately  out  of  their  way  to  do  this,  well  pleased  to 
raise  a  Liberal  clamor  against  their  overlarge  concessions. 


182         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

And  so,  while  seeming  to  serve  the  interests  of  the  d'Esgrig- 
nons,  they  stirred  up  ill  feeling  against  them.  The  treacher- 
ous du  Ronceret  had  it  in  his  mind  to  pose  as  incorruptible  at 
the  right  moment  over  some  serious  charge,  with  public 
opinion  to  back  him  up.  The  young  count's  worst  tendencies, 
moreover,  were  insidiously  encouraged  by  two  or  three  young 
men  who  followed  in  his  train,  paid  court  to  him,  won  his 
favor,  and  flattered  and  obeyed  him,  with  a  view  to  confirm- 
ing his  belief  in  a  noble's  supremacy;  and  all  this  at  a  time 
when  a  noble's  one  chance  of  preserving  his  power  lay  in 
using  it  with  the  utmost  discretion  for  half  a  century  to  come. 

Du  Croisier  hoped  to  reduce  the  d'Esgrignons  to  the  last 
extremity  of  poverty ;  he  hoped  to  see  their  castle  demolished, 
and  their  lands  sold  piecemeal  by  auction,  through  the  follies 
which  this  hare-brained  boy  was  pretty  certain  to  commit. 
This  was  as  far  as  he  went ;  he  did  not  think,  with  President 
du  Ronceret,  that  Victurnien  was  likely  to  give  justice  another 
kind  of  hold  upon  him.  Both  men  found  an  ally  for  their 
schemes  of  revenge  in  Victurnien's  overweening  vanity  and 
love  of  pleasure.  President  du  Ronceret's  son,  a  lad  of 
seventeen,  was  admirably  fitted  for  the  part  of  instigator. 
He  was  one  of  the  count's  companions,  a  new  kind  of  spy  in 
du  Croisier's  pay ;  du  Croisier  taught  him  his  lesson,  set  him 
to  track  down  the  noble  and  beautiful  boy  through  his  better 
qualities,  and  sardonically  prompted  him  to  encourage  his 
victim  in  his  worst  faults.  Fabien  du  Ronceret  was  a  sophis- 
ticated youth,  to  whom  such  a  mystification  was  attractive ;  he 
had  precisely  the  keen  brain  and  envious  nature  which  finds 
in  such  a  pursuit  as  this  the  absorbing  amusement  which  a 
man  of  an  ingenious  turn  lacks  in  the  provinces. 

In  three  years,  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  one-and- 
twenty,  Victurnien  cost  poor  Chesnel  nearly  eighty  thousand 
francs !  And  this  without  the  knowledge  of  Mile.  Armande 
or  the  marquis.  More  than  half  of  the  money  had  been  spent 
in  buying  off  lawsuits ;  the  lad's  extravagance  had  squandered 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         183 

the  rest.  Of  the  marquis'  income  of  ten  thousand  livres,  five 
thousand  were  necessary  for  the  housekeeping ;  two  thousand 
more  represented  Mile.  Armande's  allowance  (parsimonious 
though  she  was)  and  the  marquis'  expenses.  The  handsome 
young  heir-presumptive,  therefore,  had  not  a  hundred  louis  to 
spend.  And  what  sort  of  figure  can  a  man  make  on  two 
thousand  livres?  Victurnien's  tailor's  bills  alone  absorbed 
his  whole  allowance.  He  had  his  linen,  his  clothes,  gloves, 
and  perfumery  from  Paris.  He  wanted  a  good  English  saddle- 
horse,  a  tilbury,  and  a  second  horse.  M.  du  Croisier  had  a 
tilbury  and  a  thoroughbred.  Was  the  bourgeoisie  to  cut  out 
the  noblesse  ?  Then,  the  young  count  must  have  a  man  in  the 
d'Esgrignon  livery.  He  prided  himself  on  setting  the  fashion 
among  young  men  in  the  town  and  the  department;  he  entered 
that  world  of  luxuries  and  fancies  which  suit  youth  and  good 
looks  and  wit  so  well.  Chesnel  paid  for  it  all,  not  without 
using,  like  ancient  parliaments,  the  right  of  protest,  albeit  he 
spoke  with  angelic  kindness. 

"  What  a  pity  it  is  that  so  good  a  man  should  be  so  tire- 
some !  "  Victurnien  would  say  to  himself  every  time  that  the 
notary  stanched  some  wound  in  his  purse. 

Chesnel  had  been  left  a  widower,  and  childless;  he  had 
taken  his  old  master's  son  to  fill  the  void  in  his  heart.  It  was 
a  pleasure  to  him  to  watch  the  lad  driving  up  the  High  Street, 
perched  aloft  on  the  box-seat  of  the  tilbury,  whip  in  hand, 
and  a  rose  in  his  button-hole,  handsome,  well  turned  out, 
envied  by  every  one. 

Pressing  need  would  bring  Victurnien  with  uneasy  eyes  and 
coaxing  manner,  but  steady  voice,  to  the  modest  house  in  the 
Rue  du  Bercail ;  there  had  been  losses  at  cards  at  the  Trois- 
villes,  or  the  Due  de  Verneuil's,  or  the  prefecture,  or  the 
receiver-general's,  and  the  count  had  come  to  his  providence, 
the  notary.  He  had  only  to  show  himself  to  carry  the  day. 

"Well,  what  is  it,  Monsieur  le  Comte  ?  What  has  hap- 
pened?" the  old  man  would  ask,  with  a  tremor  in  his  voice. 


184         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

On  great  occasions  Victurnien  would  sit  down,  assume  a 
melancholy,  pensive  expression,  and  submit  with  little  coquet- 
ries of  voice  and  gesture  to  be  questioned.  Then  when  he 
had  thoroughly  roused  the  old  man's  fears  (for  Chesnel  was 
beginning  to  fear  how  such  a  course  of  extravagance  would  • 
end),  he  would  own  up  to  a  peccadillo  which  a  bill  for  a 
thousand  francs  would  absolve.  Chesnel  possessed  a  private 
income  of  some  twelve  thousand  livres,  but  the  fund  was  not 
inexhaustible.  The  eighty  thousand  francs  thus  squandered 
represented  his  savings,  accumulated  for  the  day  when  the 
marquis  should  send  his  son  tp  Paris,  or  open  negotiations  for 
a  wealthy  marriage. 

Chesnel  was  clear-sighted  so  long  as  Victurnien  was  not 
there  before  him.  One  by  one  he  lost  the  illusions  which  the 
marquis  and  his  sister  still  fondly  cherished.  He  saw  that 
the  young  fellow  could  not  be  depended  upon  in  the  least, 
and  wished  to  see  him  married  to  some  modest,  sensible  girl 
of  good  birth,  wondering  within  himself  how  a  young  man 
could  mean  so  well  and  do  so  ill,  for  he  made  promises  one 
day  only  to  break  them  all  on  the  next. 

But  there  is  never  any  good  to  be  expected  of  young  men 
who  confess  their  sins  and  repent,  and  straightway  fall  into 
them  again.  A  man  of  strong  character  only  confesses  his 
faults  to  himself,  and  punishes  himself  for  them ;  as  for  the 
weak,  they  drop  back  into  the  old  ruts  when  they  find  that 
the  bank  is  too  steep  to  climb.  The  springs  of  pride  which 
lie  in  a  great  man's  secret  soul  had  been  slackened  in  Victur- 
nien. .With  such  guardians  as  he  had,  such  company  as  he 
kept,  such  a  life  as  he  had  led,  he  had  suddenly  become  an 
enervated  voluptuary  at  that  turning-point  in  his  life  when  a 
man  most  stands  in  need  of  the  harsh  discipline  of  misfortune 
and  poverty  to  bring  out  the  strength  that  is  in  him,  the  pinch 
of  adversity  which  formed  a  Prince  Eugene,  a  Frederick  II., 
a  Napoleon.  Chesnel  saw  that  Victurnien  possessed  that  un- 
controllable appetite  for  enjoyments  which  should  be  the  pre- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         185 

rogative  of  men  endowed  with  giant  powers ;  the  men  who 
feel  the  need  of  counterbalancing  their  gigantic  labors  by 
pleasures  which  bring  one-sided  mortals  to  the  pit. 

At  times  the  good  man  stood  aghast;  then,  again,  some 
profound  sally,  some  sign  of  the  lad's  remarkable  range  of 
intellect,  would  reassure  him.  He  would  say,  as  the  marquis 
said  at  the  rumor  of  some  escapade:  "Boys  will  be  boys." 
Chesnel  had  spoken  to  the  chevalier,  lamenting  the  young 
lord's  propensity  for  getting  into  debt ;  but  the  chevalier 
manipulated  his  pinch  of  snuff,  and  listened  with  a  smile  of 
amusement. 

"  My  dear  Chesnel,  just  explain  to  me  what  a  national  debt 
is,"  he  answered.  "If  France  has  debts,  egad  !  why  should 
not  Victurnien  have  debts?  At  this  time  and  at  all  times 
princes  have  debts,  every  gentleman  has  debts.  Perhaps  you 
would  rather  that  Victurnien  should  bring  you  his  savings? 
Do  you  know  what  our  great  Richelieu  (not  the  cardinal,  a 
pitiful  fellow  that  put  nobles  to  death,  but  the  marechal),  do 
you  know  what  he  did  once  when  his  grandson  the  Prince  de 
Chinon,  the  last  of  the  line,  let  him  see  that  he  had  not  spent 
his  pocket-money  at  the  University?" 

"No,  Monsieur  le  Chevalier." 

"  Oh,  well ;  he  flung  the  purse  out  of  the  window  to  a 
sweeper  in  the  courtyard,  and  said  to  his  grandson:  'Then 
they  do  not  teach  you  to  be  a  prince  here? '  " 

Chesnel  bent  his  head  and  made  no  answer.  But  that 
night,  as  he  lay  awake,  he  thought  that  such  doctrines  as 
these  were  fatal  in  times  when  there  was  one  law  for  every- 
body, and  foresaw  the  first  beginnings  of  the  ruin  of  the  d'Es- 
grignons. 

But  for  these  explanations  which  depict  one  side  of  provincial 
life  in  the  time  of  the  Empire  and  the  Restoration,  it  would  not 
be  easy  to  understand  the  opening  scene  of  this  history,  an 
incident  which  took  place  in  the  great  salon  one  evening  toward 


186         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

the  end  of  October,  1822.  The  card-tables  were  forsaken,  the 
Collection  of  Antiquities — elderly  nobles,  elderly  countesses, 
young  marquises,  and  simple  baronesses — had  settled  their 
losses  and  winnings.  The  master  of  the  house  was  pacing  up 
and  down  the  room,  while  Mile.  Armande  was  putting  out 
the  candles  on  the  card-tables.  He  was  not  taking  exercise 
alone,  the  chevalier  was  with  him,  and  the  two  wrecks  of  the 
eighteenth  century  were  talking  of  Victurnien.  The  chevalier 
had  undertaken  to  broach  the  subject  with  the  marquis. 

"Yes,  marquis,"  he  was  saying,  "your  son  is  wasting  his 
time  and  his  youth ;  you  ought  to  send  him  to  Court." 

"I  have  always  thought,"  said  the  marquis,  "that  if  my 
great  age  prevents  me  from  going  to  Court — where,- between 
ourselves,  I  do  not  know  what  I  should  do  among  all  these 
new  people  whom  his  majesty  receives,  and  all  that  is  going 
on  there — that  if  I  could  not  go  myself,  I  could  at  least  send 
my  son  to  present  our  homage  to  his  majesty.  The  King 
surely  would  do  something  for  the  count — give  him  a  company, 
for  instance,  or  a  place  in  the  Household,  a  chance,  in  short, 
for  the  boy  to  win  his  spurs.  My  uncle  the  archbishop 
suffered  a  cruel  martyrdom  ;  I  have  fought  for  the  cause  with- 
out deserting  the  camp  with  those  who  thought  it  their  duty 
to  follow  the  princes.  I  held  that  while  the  King  was  in 
France  his  nobles  should  rally  round  him.  Ah  !  well,  no  one 
gives  us  a  thought ;  a  Henri  IV.  would  have  written  before 
now  to  the  d'Esgrignons,  '  Come  to  me,  my  friends ;  we  have 
won  the  day !  '  After  all,  we  are  something  better  than  the 
Troisvilles,  yet  here  are  two  Troisvilles  made  peers  of  France ; 
and  another,  I  hear,  represents  the  nobles  in  the  Chamber." 
(He  took  the  upper  electoral  colleges  for  assemblies  of  his 
own  order.)  "Really,  they  think  no  more  of  us  than  if  we 
did  not  exist.  I  was  waiting  for  the  princes'  to  make  their 
journey  through  this  part  of  the  world;  but  as  the  princes  do 
not  come  to  us,  we  must  go  to  the  princes." 

"  I  am  enchanted  to  learn  that  you  think  of  introducing  our 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         187 

dear  Victurnien  into  society,"  the  chevalier  put  in  adroitly. 
"  He  ought  not  to  bury  his  talents  in  a  hole  like  this  town. 
The  best  fortune  that  he  can  look  for  here  is  to  come  across 
some  Norman  girl"  (mimicking  the  accent),  "country-bred, 
stupid,  and  rich.  What  could  he  make  of  her? — his  wife? 
Oh  !  good  Lord  !  " 

"I  sincerly  hope  that  he  will  defer  his  marriage  until  he 
has  obtained  some  great  office  or  appointment  under  the 
Crown,"  returned  the  gray-haired  marquis.  "Still,  there  are 
serious  difficulties  in  the  way." 

And  these  were  the  only  difficulties  which  the  marquis  saw 
at  the  outset  of  his  son's  career. 

"  My  son,  the  Comte  d'Esgrignon,  cannot  make  his  appear- 
ance at  court  like  a  tatterdemalion,"  he  continued  after  a 
pause,  marked  by  a  sigh  ;  "he  must  be  equipped.  Alas  !  for 
these  two  hundred  years  we  have  had  no  retainers.  Ah ! 
chevalier,  this  demolition  from  top  to  bottom  always  brings 
me  back  to  the  first  hammer-stroke  delivered  by  Monsieur  de 
Mirabeau.  The  one  thing  needful  nowadays  is  money;  that 
is  all  that  the  Revolution  has  done  that  I  can  see.  The  King 
does  not  ask  you  whether  you  are  a  descendant  of  the  Valois 
or  a  conqueror  of  Gaul ;  he  asks  whether  you  pay  a  thousand 
francs  in  failles  which  nobles  never  used  to  pay.  So  I  can- 
not well  send  the  count  to  Court  without  a  matter  of  twenty 
thousand  crowns " 

"Yes,"  assented  the  chevalier,  "with  that  trifling  sum  he 
could  cut  a  brave  figure." 

"Well,"  said  Mile.  Armande,  "I  have  asked  Chesnel  to 
come  to-night.  Would  you  believe  it,  chevalier,  ever  since 
the  day  when  Chesnel  proposed  that  I  should  marry  that 
miserable  du  Croisier " 

"Ah  !  that  was  truly  unworthy,  mademoiselle  !  "  cried  the 
chevalier. 

"Unpardonable  !  "  said  the  marquis. 

"  Well,  since  then  my  brother  has  never  brought  himself 


188         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

to  ask  anything  whatsoever  of  Monsieur  Chesnel,"  continued 
Mile.  Armande. 

"Of  your  old  household  servant?  Why,  marquis,  you 
would  do  Chesnel  honor — an  honor  which  he  would  grate- 
fully remember  till  his  latest  breath." 

"  No,"  said  the  marquis,  "  the  thing  is  beneath  one's  dig- 
nity, it  seems  to  me." 

"There  is  not  much  question  of  dignity;  it  is  a  matter  of 
necessity,"  said  the  chevalier,  with  the  trace  of  a  shrug. 

"Never,"  said  the  marquis,  riposting  with  a  gesture  which 
decided  the  chevalier  to  risk  a  great  stroke  to  open  his  old 
friend's  eyes. 

"Very  well,"  he  said,  "since  you  do  not  know  it,  I  will 
tell  you  myself  that  Chesnel  has  let  your  son  have  something 
already,  something  like " 

"  My  son  is  incapable  of  accepting  anything  whatever  from 
Chesnel,"  the  marquis  broke  in,  drawing  himself  up  as  he 
spoke.  "  He  might  have  asked  you  for  twenty-five  louis " 

"Something  like  a  hundred  thousand  livres,"  said  the 
chevalier,  finishing  his  sentence. 

"The  Comte  d'Esgrignon  owes  a  hundred  thousand  livres 
to  a  Chesnel!  "  cried  the  marquis,  with  every  sign  of  deep 
pain.  "  Oh  !  if  he  were  not  an  only  son,  he  should  set  out 
to-night  for  Mexico  with  a  captain's  commission.  A  man 
may  be  in  debt  to  money-lenders,  they  charge  a  heavy  interest, 
and  you  are  quits;  that  is  right  enough;  but  Chesnel!  a  man 
to  whom  one  is  attached  ! " 

"Yes,  our  adorable  Victurnien  has  run  through  a  hundred 
thousand  livres,  dear  marquis,"  resumed  the  chevalier,  flick- 
ing a  trace  of  snuff  from  his  vest ;  "  it  is  not  much,  I  know. 
I  myself  at  his  age But,  after  all,  let  us  leave  old  mem- 
ories, marquis.  The  count  is  living  in  the  provinces;  all 
things  taken  into  consideration,  it  is  not  so  much  amiss.  He 
will  go  far ;  these  irregularities  are  common  in  men  who  do 
great  things  afterward " 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        189 

"  And  he  is  sleeping  upstairs,  without  a  word  of  this  to  his 
father,"  exclaimed  the  marquis. 

"  Sleeping  innocently  as  a  child  who  has  merely  got  five  or 
six  little  bourgeoises  into  trouble,  and  now  must  have  duch- 
esses," returned  the  chevalier. 

"  Why,  he  deserves  a  lettre  de  cachet !  " 

"  '  They  '  have  done  away  with  lettres  de  cachet"*  said  the 
chevalier.  '"You  know  what  a  hubbub  there  was  when  they 
tried  to  institute  a  law  for  special  cases.  We  could  not  keep 
the  provost's  courts,  which  Monsieur  de  Bonaparte  used  to 
call  commissions  militaircs." 

"Well,  well;  what  are  we  to  do  if  our  boys  are  wild  or 
turn  out  scapegraces  ?  Is  there  no  locking  them  up  in  these 
days?"  asked  the  marquis. 

The  chevalier  looked  at  the  heart-broken  father  and  lacked 
courage  to  answer:  "We  shall  be  obliged  to  bring  them  up 
properly." 

"And  you  have  never  said  a  word  of  this  tome,  Made- 
moiselle d'Esgrignon,"  added  the  marquis,  turning  suddenly 
round  upon  Mile.  Armande.  He  never  addressed  her  as 
Mile.  d'Esgrignon  except  when  he  was  vexed ;  usually  she 
was  called  "  my  sister." 

"  Why,  monsieur,  when  a  young  man  is  full  of  life  and 
spirits,  and  leads  an  idle  life  in  a  town  like  this,  what  else 
can  you  expect?"  asked  Mile.  d'Esgrignon.  She  could  not 
understand  her  brother's  anger. 

"Debts!  eh!  why,  hang  it  all!"  added  the  chevalier. 
"  He  plays  cards,  he  has  little  adventures,  he  shoots — all  these 
things  are  horribly  expensive  nowadays." 

"  Come,"  said  the  marquis,  "  it  is  time  to  send  him  to  the 
King.  I  will  spend  to-morrow  morning  in  writing  to  our 
kinsmen." 

"I  have  some  acquaintance  with  the  Dues  de  Navarreins, 
de  Lenoncourt,  de  Maufrigneuse,  and  de  Chaulieu,"  said  the 
*  An  arbitrary  warrant  of  imprisonment  sealed  with  the  king's  cachet — seal. 


190         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

chevalier,  though  he  knew,  as  he  spoke,  that  he  was  pretty 
thoroughly  forgotten. 

"  My  dear  chevalier,  there  is  no  need  of  such  formalities  to 
present  a  d'Esgrignon  at  Court,"  the  marquis  broke  in.  "  A 
hundred  thousand  livres,"  he  muttered;  "  this  Chesnel  makes 
very  free.  This  is  what  comes  of  these  accursed  troubles. 
Mons.  Chesnel  protects  my  son.  And  now  I  must  ask  him — 
No,  sister,  you  must  undertake  this  business.  Chesnel  shall 
secure  himself  for  the  whole  amount  by  a  mortgage  on  our 
lands.  And  just  give  this  hare-brained  boy  a  good  scolding  ; 
he  will  end  by  ruining  himself  if  he  goes  on  like  this." 

The  chevalier  and  Mile.  d'Esgrignon  thought  these  words 
perfectly  simple  and  natural,  absurd  as  they  would  have 
sounded  to  any  other  listener.  So  far  from  seeing  anything 
ridiculous  in  the  speech,  they  were  both  very  much  touched 
by  a  look  of  something  like  anguish  in  the  old  noble's  face. 

Just  then  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon  looked  exactly  as  any 
imagination  with  a  touch  of  romance  could  wish.  He  was 
almost  bald,  but  a  fringe  of  silken,  white  locks,  curled  at  the 
tips,  covered  the  back  of  his  head.  All  the  pride  of  race 
might  be  seen  in  a  noble  forehead,  such  as  you  may  admire 
in  a  Louis  XV.,  a  Beaumarchais,  a  Marechal  de  Richelieu  ;  it 
was  not  the  square,  broad  brow  of  the  portraits  of  the  Mare"chal 
de  Saxe;  nor  yet  the  small,  hard  circle  of  Voltaire,  compact 
to  overfulness ;  it  was  graciously  rounded  and  finely  moulded, 
the  temples  were  ivory-tinted  and  soft ;  and  mettle  and  spirit, 
unquenched  by  age,  flashed  from  the  brilliant  eyes.  The 
marquis  had  the  Conde  nose  and  the  lovable  Bourbon  mouth, 
from  which,  as  they  used  to  say  of  the  Comte  d'Artois,  only 
witty  and  urbane  words  proceed.  His  cheeks,  sloping  rather 
than  foolishly  rounded  to  the  chin,  were  in  keeping  with  his 
spare  frame,  thin  legs,  and  plump  hands.  The  strangulation 
cravat  at  his  throat  was  of  the  kind  which  every  marquis  wears 
in  all  the  portraits  which  adorn  eighteenth-century  literature ; 
it  is  common  alike  to  Saint-Preux  and  to  Lovelace,  to  the 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        191 

elegant    Montesquieu's    heroes   and   to   Diderot's   homespun 
characters  (see  the  first  editions  of  those  writers'  works). 

The  marquis  always  wore  a  white,  gold-embroidered,  high 
vest,  with  the  red  ribbon  of  a  commander  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Louis  blazing  upon  his  breast ;  and  a  blue  coat  with  wide 
skirts,  and  fleurs-de-lys  on  the  flaps,  which  were  turned  back 
— an  odd  costume  which  the  King  had  adopted.  But  the 
marquis  could  not  bring  himself  to  give  up  the  Frenchman's 
knee-breeches  nor  yet  the  white  silk  stockings  or  the  buckles 
at  the  knees.  After  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  he  appeared 
in  full  dress. 

He  read  no  newspapers  but  the  "  Quotidienne "  and  the 
"  Gazette  de  France,"  two  journals  accused  by  the  Constitu- 
tional press  of  obscurantist  views  and  uncounted  "  monarchical 
and  religious"  enormities;  while  the  Marquis  d'Esgrignon, 
on  the  other  hand,  found  heresies  and  revolutionary  doctrines 
in  every  issue. 

The  Marquis  d'Esgrignon  rested  his  elbows  on  his  knees 
and  leaned  his  head  on  his  hands.  During  his  meditations 
Mile.  Armande  and  the  chevalier  looked  at  one  another  with- 
out uttering  the  thoughts  in  their  minds.  Was  he  pained  by 
the  discovery  that  his  son's  future  must  depend  upon  his  some- 
time land-steward?  Was  he  doubtful  of  the  reception  await- 
ing the  young  count  ?  Did  he  regret  that  he  had  made  no 
preparation  for  launching  his  heir  into  that  brilliant  world  of 
court  ?  Poverty  had  kept  him  in  the  depths  of  his  province ; 
how  should  he  have  appeared  at  Court  ?  He  sighed  heavily 
as  he  raised  his  head. 

That  sigh,  in  those  days,  came  from  the  real  aristocracy  all 
over  France ;  from  the  loyal  provincial  noblesse,  consigned  to 
neglect  with  most  of  those  who  had  drawn  sword  and  braved 
the  storm  for  the  cause. 

"What  have  the  princes  done  for  the  du  Guenics,  or  the 
Fontaines,  or  the  Bauvans,  who  never  submitted?"  he  mut- 
tered to  himself.  "  They  fling  miserable  pensions  to  the 


192         THE  JEALOUSIES   OP  A  COUNTRY    TOWN. 

men  who  fought  most  bravely,  and  give  them  a  royal  lieu- 
tenancy in  a  fortress  somewhere  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
kingdom." 

Evidently  the  marquis  doubted  the  reigning  dynasty. 
Mile.  d'Esgrignon  was  trying  to  reassure  her  brother  as  to 
the  prospects  of  the  journey,  when  a  step  outside  on  the  dry, 
narrow  footway  gave  them  notice  of  Chesnel's  coming.  In 
another  moment  Chesnel  appeared ;  Josephin,  the  count's 
gray-haired  valet,  admitted  the  notary  without  announcing 
him. 

"Chesnel,  my  boy "  (Chesnel  was  a  white-haired  man 

of  sixty-nine,  with  a  square-jawed,  venerable  countenance; 
he  wore  knee-breeches,  ample  enough  to  fill  several  chapters 
of  dissertation  in  the  manner  of  Sterne,  ribbed  stockings, 
shoes  with  silver  clasps,  an  ecclesiastical-looking  coat  and  a 
high  vest  of  scholastic  cut. 

"  Chesnel,  my  boy,  it  was  very  presumptuous  of  you  to  lend 
money  to  the  Comte  d'Esgrignon  !  If  I  repaid  you  at  once 
and  we  never  saw  each  other  again,  it  would  be  no  more  than 
you  deserve  for  giving  wings  to  his  vices." 

There  was  a  pause,  a  silence  such  as  there  falls  at  Court  when 
the  King  publicly  reprimands  a  courtier.  The  old  notary 
looked  humble  and  contrite. 

"I  am  anxious  about  that  boy,  Chesnel,"  continued  the 
marquis  in  a  kindly  tone ;  "  I  should  like  to  send  him  to 
Paris  to  serve  his  majesty.  Make  arrangements  with  my 
sister  for  his  suitable  appearance  at  Court.  And  we  will  settle 
accounts " 

The  marquis  looked  grave  as  he  left  the  room  with  a  friendly 
gesture  of  farewell  to  Chesnel. 

"I  thank  Monsieur  le  Marquis  for  all  his  goodness," 
returned  the  old  man,  who  still  remained  standing. 

Mile.  Armande  rose  to  go  to  the  door  with  her  brother; 
she  had  rung  the  bell,  old  Josephin  was  in  readiness  to  light 
his  master  to  his  room. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWA'.        193 

''Take  a  seat,  Chesnel,"  said  the  lady,  as  she  returned, 
and  with  womanly  tact  she  explained  away  and  softened  the 
marquis'  harshness.  And  yet  beneath  that  harshness  Chesnel 
saw  a  great  affection.  The  marquis'  attachment  for  his  old 
servant  was  something  of  the  same  order  as  a  man's  affection 
for  his  dog ;  he  will  fight  any  one  who  kicks  the  animal,  the 
dog  is  like  a  part  of  his  existence,  a  something  which,  if  not 
exactly  himself,  represents  him  in  that  which  is  nearest  and 
dearest — his  sensibilities. 

"  It  is  quite  time  that  Monsieur  le  Comte  should  be  sent 
away  from  the  town,  mademoiselle',"  he  said  sententiously. 

"Yes,"  returned  she.  "Has  he  been  indulging  in  some 
new  escapade?  " 

"No,  mademoiselle." 

"  Well,  why  do  you  blame  him?  " 

"  I  am  not  blaming  him,  mademoiselle.  No,  I  am  not 
blaming  him.  I  am  very  far  from  blaming  him.  I  will  even 
say  that  I  shall  never  blame  him,  whatever  he  may  do." 

There  was  a  pause.  The  chevalier,  nothing  if  not  quick  to 
take  in  a  situation,  began  to  yawn  like  a  sleep-ridden  mortal. 
Gracefully  he  made  his  excuses  and  went,  with  as  little  mind 
to  sleep  as  to  go  and  drown  himself.  The  imp  Curiosity  kept 
the  chevalier  wide  awake,  and  with  airy  fingers  plucked  away 
the  cotton-batting  from  his  ears. 

"Well,  Chesnel,  is  it  something  new?"  Mile.  Armande 
began  anxiously. 

"  Yes,  things  that  cannot  be  told  to  Monsieur  le  Marquis  ; 
he  would  drop  down  in  an  apoplectic  fit." 

"  Speak  out,"  she  said.  With  her  beautiful  head  leant  on 
the  back  of  her  low  chair  and  her  arms  extended  listlessly 
by  her  side,  she  looked  as  if  she  were  waiting  passively  for 
her  death-blow. 

"  Mademoiselle,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  with  all  his  cleverness, 
is  a  plaything  in  the  hands  of  mean  creatures,  petty  natures 
on  the  lookout  for  a  crushing  revenge.  They  want  to  ruin  us 
13 


194         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

and  bring  us  low !  There  is  the  president  of  the  Tribunal, 
Monsieur  du  Ronceret ;  he  has,  as  you  know,  a  very  great 
notion  of  his  descent " 

"His  grandfather  was  an  attorney,"  interposed  Mile. 
Armande. 

"  I  know  he  was.  And  for  that  reason  you  have  not  re- 
ceived him  ;  nor  does  he  go  to  Monsieur  de  Troisville's,  nor 
to  le  Due  de  Verneuil's,  nor  to  the  Marquis  de  Casteran's ; 
but  he  is  one  of  the  pillars  of  du  Croisier's  salon.  Your 
nephew  may  rub  shoulders  with  young  Fabien  du  Ronceret 
without  condescending  too  far,  for  he  must  have  companions 
of  his  own  age.  Well  and  good.  That  young  fellow  is  at 
the  bottom  of  all  Monsieur  le  Comte's  follies ;  he  and  two  or 
three  of  the  rest  of  them  belong  to  the  other  side,  the  side  of 
Monsieur  le  Chevalier's  enemy,  who  does  nothing  but  breathe 
threats  of  vengeance  against  you  and  all  the  nobles  together. 
They  all  hope  to  ruin  you  through  your  nephew.  The  ring- 
leader of  the  conspiracy  is  this  sycophant  of  a  du  Croisier, 
the  pretended  Royalist.  Du  Croisier's  wife,  poor  thing, 
knows  nothing  about  it ;  you  know  her,  I  should  have  heard 
of  it  before  this  if  she  had  ears  to  hear  evil.  For  some  time 
these  wild  young  fellows  were  not  in  the  secret,  nor  was  any- 
body else ;  but  the  ringleaders  let  something  drop  in  jest,  and 
then  the  fools  got  to  know  about  it,  and  after  the  count's  re- 
cent escapades  they  let  fall  some  words  while  they  were  drunk. 
And  those  words  were  carried  to  me  by  others  who  are  sorry 
to  see  such  a  fine,  handsome,  noble,  charming  lad  ruining 
himself  with  pleasure.  So  far  people  feel  sorry  for  him  ;  be- 
fore many  days  are  over  they  will — I  am  afraid  to  say  what, 
but " 

"They  will  despise  him;  say  it  out,  Chesnel ! "  Mile. 
Armande  cried  piteously. 

"  Ah  !  How  can  you  keep  the  best  people  in  the  town  from 
finding  out  faults  in  their  neighbors?  They  do  not  know 
what  to  do  with  themselves  from  morning  to  night.  And  so 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        195 

Monsieur  le  Comte's  losses  at  play  are  all  reckoned  up.  Thirty 
thousand  francs  have  taken  flight  during  these  two  months, 
and  everybody  wonders  where  he  gets  the  money.  If  they 
mention  it  when  I  am  present,  I  just  call  them  to  order.  Ah ! 

but '  Do  you  suppose '  (I  told  them  this  morning), 

'do  you  suppose  that  if  the  d'Esgrignon  family  have  lost 
their  manorial  rights,  that  therefore  they  have  been  robbed  of 
their  hoard  of  treasure  ?  The  young  count  has  a  right  to  do 
as  he  pleases ;  and  so  long  as  he  does  not  owe  you  a  sol,  you 
have  no  right  to  say  a  word."  ' 

Mile.  Armande  held  out  her  hand,  and  the  notary  kissed  it 
respectfully. 

"Good  Chesnel!  But,  my  friend,  how  shall  we  find  the 
money  for  this  journey  ?  Victurnien  must  appear  as  befits  his 
rank  at  Court." 

"Oh  !     I  have  borrowed  money  on  Le  Jard,  mademoiselle." 

"What?  You  had  nothing  left!  Ah,  heaven!  what  can 
we  do  to  reward  you?" 

"You  can  take  the  hundred  thousand  francs  which  I  hold 
at  your  disposal.  You  can  understand  that  the  loan  was 
negotiated  in  confidence,  so  that  it  might  not  reflect  on  you ; 
for  it  is  known  in  the  town  that  I  am  closely  connected  with 
the  d'Esgrignon  family." 

Tears  came  into  Mile.  Armande's  eyes.  Chesnel  saw 
them,  took  a  fold  of  the  noble  woman's  dress  in  his  hands, 
and  kissed  it. 

"Never  mind,"  he  said,  "a  lad  must  sow  his  wild  oats. 
In  great  salons  in  Paris  his  boyish  ideas  will  take  a  new  turn. 
And,  really,  though  our  old  friends  here  are  the  worthiest  people 
in  the  world,  and  no  one  could  have  nobler  hearts  than  they, 
they  are  not  amusing.  If  Monsieur  le  Comte  wants  amuse- 
ment, he  is  obliged  to  look  below  his  rank,  and  he  will  end 
by  getting  into  low  company." 

Next  day  the  old  traveling  coach  saw  the  light,  and  was 
sent  to  be  put  in  repair.  In  a  solemn  interview  after  break- 


196         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

fast,  the  hope  of  the  house  was  duly  informed  of  his  father's 
intentions  regarding  him — he  was  to  go  to  Court  and  ask  to 
serve  his  majesty.  He  would  have  time  during  the  journey  to 
make  up  his  mind  about  his  career.  The'  navy  or  the  army, 
the  privy  council,  an  embassy,  or  the  royal  household — all 
were  open  to  a  d'Esgrignon,  a  d'Esgrignon  had  only  to  choose. 
The  King  would  certainly  look  favorably  upon  the  d'Esgrig- 
nons,  because  they  had  asked  nothing  of  him,  and  had  sent 
the  youngest  representative  of  their  house  to  receive  the  recog- 
nition of  majesty. 

But  young  d'Esgrignon,  with  all  his  wild  pranks,  had 
guessed  instinctively  what  society  in  Paris  meant,  and  formed 
his  own  opinions  of  life.  So,  when  they  talked  of  his  leaving 
the  country  and  the  paternal  roof,  he  listened  with  a  grave 
countenance  to  his  revered  parent's  lecture,  and  refrained 
from  giving  him  a  good  deal  of  information  in  reply.  As,  for 
instance,  that  young  men  no  longer  went  into  the  army  or  the 
navy  as  they  used  to  do ;  that  if  a  man  had  a  mind  to  be  a 
second  lieutenant  in  a  cavalry  regiment  without  passing 
through  a  special  training  in  the  Ecoles,  he  must  first  serve  in 
the  Cadets ;  that  sons  of  the  greatest  houses  went  exactly  like 
commoners  to  Saint-Cyr  and  the  Polytechnic,  and  took  their 
chances  of  being  beaten  by  base  blood.  If  he  had  enlightened 
his  relatives  on  these  points,  funds  might  not  have  been  forth- 
coming for  a  stay  in  Paris  ;  so  he  allowed  his  father  and  Aunt 
Armande  to  believe  that  he  would  be  permitted  a  seat  in  the 
King's  carriages,  that  he  must  support  his  dignity  at  Court  as 
the  d'Esgrignons  of  the  time,  and  rub  shoulders  with  great 
lords  of  the  realm. 

It  grieved  the  marquis  that  he  could  send  but  one  servant 
with  his  son ;  but  he  gave  him  his  own  old  valet  Josephin,  a  man 
who  could  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  his  young  master,  and  to 
watch  faith  fully  over  his  interests.  The  poor  father  must  do 
without  Josephin,  and  hope  to  replace  him  with  a  young  lad. 

"Remember  that  you  are  a  Carol,  my  boy,"  he  said;  "re- 


THE  JEALOUSIES  OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        197 

member  that  you  come  of  an  unalloyed  descent,  and  that  your 
escutcheon  bears  the  motto  CU  est  nostre  ;  with  such  arms  you 
may  hold  your  head  high  everywhere,  and  aspire  to  queens. 
Render  grace  to  your  father,  as  I  to  mine.  We  owe  it  to  the 
honor  of  our  ancestors,  kept  stainless  until  now,  that  we  can 
look  all  men  in  the  face,  and  need  bend  the  knee  to  none  save 
a  mistress,  the  King,  and  God.  This  is  the  greatest  of  your 
privileges." 

Chesnel,  good  man,  was  breakfasting  with  the  family.  He 
took  no  part  in  counsels  based  on  heraldry,  nor  in  the  in- 
diting of  letters  addressed  to  divers  mighty  personages  of  the 
day ;  but  he  had  spent  the  night  in  writing  to  an  old  friend  of 
his,  one  of  the  oldest  established  notaries  of  Paris.  Without 
this  letter  it  is  not  possible  to  understand  Chesnel's  real  and 
assumed  fatherhood.  It  almost  recalls  Daedalus'  address  to 
Icarus ;  for  where,  save  in  old  mythology,  can  you  look  for 
comparisons  worthy  of  this  man  of  antique  mould? 

"My  DEAR  AND  ESTIMABLE  SORBIER: — I  remember  with 
no  little  pleasure  that  I  made  my  first  campaign  in  our 
honorable  profession  under  your  father,  and  that  you  had  a 
liking  for  me,  poor  little  clerk  that  I  was.  And  now  I  appeal 
to  old  memories  of  the  days  when  we  worked  in  the  same 
office,  old  pleasant  memories  for  our  hearts,  to  ask  you  to  do 
me  the  one  service  that  I  have  ever  asked  of  you  in  the  course 
of  our  long  lives,  crossed  as  they  have  been  by  political  catas- 
trophes, to  which,  perhaps,  I  owe  it  that  I  have  the  honor  to 
be  your  colleague.  And  now  I  ask  this  service  of  you,  my 
friend,  and  my  white  hairs  will  be  brought  with  sorrow  to  the 
grave  if  you  should  refuse  my  entreaty.  It  is  no  question  of 
myself  or  of  mine,  Sorbier,  for  I  lost  poor  Mme.  Chesnel,  and 
I  have  no  child  of  my  own.  Something  more  to  me  than  my 
own  family  (if  I  had  had  one)  is  involved — it  is  the  Marquis 
d'Esgrignon's  only  son.  I  have  had  the  honor  to  be  the 
marquis'  land-steward  ever  since  I  left  the  office  to  which  his 


198         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

father  sent  me  at  his  own  expense,  with  the  idea  of  providing 
for  me.  The  house  which  nurtured  me  has  passed  through  all 
the  troubles  of  the  Revolution.  I  have  managed  to  save  some 
of  their  property;  but  what  is  it,  after  all,  in  comparison  with 
the  wealth  that  they  have  lost  ?  I  cannot  tell  you,  Sorbier, 
how  deeply  I  am  attached  to  the  great  house,  which  has  been 
all  but  swallowed  up  under  my  eyes  by  the  abyss  of  time. 
M.  le  Marquis  was  proscribed,  and  his  lands  confiscated,  he 
was  getting  on  in  years,  he  had  no  child.  Misfortunes  upon 
misfortunes  !  Then  M.  le  Marquis  married,  and  his  wife  died 
when  the  young  count  was  born,  and  to-day  this  noble,  dear, 
and  precious  child  is  all  the  life  of  the  d'Esgrignon  family ; 
the  fate  of  the  house  hangs  upon  him.  He  has  got  into  debt 
here  with  amusing  himself.  What  else  should  he  do  in  the 
provinces  with  an  allowance  of  a  miserable  hundred  louis? 
Yes,  my  friend,  a  hundred  louis,  the  great  house  had  come  to 
this. 

"In  this  extremity  his  father  thinks  it  necessary  to  send  the 
count  to  Paris  to  ask  for  the  King's  favor  at  Court.  Paris  is  a 
very  dangerous  place  for  a  lad ;  if  he  is  to  keep  steady  there 
he  must  have  the  grain  of  sense  which  makes  notaries  of  us. 
Beside,  I  should  be  heart-broken  to  think  of  the  poor  boy 
living  amid  such  hardships  as  we  have  known.  Do  you 
remember  the  pleasure  with  which  you  shared  my  roll  in  the 
pit  of  the  The&tre-Francais  when  we  spent  a  day  and  a  night 
there  waiting  to  see  'The  Marriage  of  Figaro?'  Oh,  blind 
that  we  were  !  We  were  happy  and  poor,  but  a  noble  cannot 
be  happy  in  poverty.  A  noble  in  want — it  is  a  thing  against 
nature !  Ah  !  Sorbier,  when  one  has  known  the  satisfaction 
of  propping  one  of  the  grandest  genealogical  trees  in  the  kingdom 
in  its  fall,  it  is  so  natural  to  interest  one's  self  in  it  and  to  grow 
fond  of  it,  and  love  it  and  water  it  and  look  to  see  it  blossom. 
So  you  will  not  be  surprised  at  so  many  precautions  on  my  part ; 
you  will  not  wonder  when  I  beg  the  help  of  your  lights,  so  that 
all  may  go  well  with  our  young  man. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        199 

"  The  family  has  allowed  a  hundred  thousand  francs  for  the 
expenses  of  M.  le  Comte's  journey.  There  is  not  a  young 
man  in  Paris  fit  to  compare  with  him,  as  you  will  see  !  You 
will  take  an  interest  in  him  as  if  he  were  your  only  son ;  and, 
lastly,  I  am  quite  sure  that  Mme.  Sorbier  will  not  hesitate  to 
second  you  in  the  office  of  guardian.  M.  le  Comte  Victurnien's 
monthly  allowance  is  fixed  at  two  thousand  francs,  but  give 
him  ten  thousand  for  his  preliminary  expenses.  The  family 
has  provided  in  this  way  for  a  stay  of  two  years,  unless  he 
takes  a  journey  abroad,  in  which  case  we  will  see  about  making 
other  arrangements.  Join  me  in  this  work,  my  old  friend, 
and  keep  the  purse-strings  fairly  tight.  Represent  things  to 
M.  le  Comte  without  reproving  him  ;  hold  him  in  as  far  as 
you  can,  and  do  not  let  him  anticipate  his  monthly  allowance 
without  sufficient  reason,  for  he  must  not  be  driven  to  despera- 
tion if  honor  is  involved. 

"  Keep  yourself  informed  of  his  movements  and  doings,  of 
the  company  which  he  keeps,  and  watch  over  his  connections 
with  women.  M.  le  Chevalier  says  that  an  opera-dancer  often 
costs  less  than  a  court  lady.  Obtain  information  on  that  point 
and  let  me  know.  If  you  are  too  busy,  perhaps  Mme.  Sorbier 
might  know  what  becomes  of  the  young  man,  and  where  he 
goes.  The  idea  of  playing  the  part  of  guardian  angel  to  such 
a  noble  and  charming  boy  might  have  attractions  for  her. 
God  will  remember  her  for  accepting  the  sacred  trust.  Per- 
haps when  you  see  M.  le  Comte  Victurnien,  her  heart  may 
tremble  at  the  thought  of  all  the  dangers  awaiting  him  in 
Paris ;  he  is  very  young  and  very  handsome,  clever,  and  at 
the  same  time  disposed  to  trust  others.  If  he  forms  a  connec- 
tion with  some  designing  woman,  Mme.  Sorbier  could  counsel 
him  better  than  you  yourself  could  do.  The  old  manservant 
who  is  with  him  can  tell  you  many  things ;  sound  Josephin,  I 
have  told  him  to  go  to  you  in  delicate  matters. 

"But  why  should  I  say  more?  We  once  were  clerks 
together,  and  a  pair  of  scamps ;  remember  our  escapades,  and 


200         THE  JEALOUSIES  OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

be  a  little  bit  young  again,  my  old  friend,  in  your  dealings 
with  him.  The  sixty  thousand  francs  will  be  remitted  to  you 
in  the  shape  of  a  bill  on  the  Treasury  by  a  gentleman  who  is 
going  to  Paris,"  and  so  forth. 

If  the  old  couple  to  whom  this  epistle  was  addressed  had 
followed  out  Chesnel's  instructions,  they  would  have  been 
compelled  to  take  three  private  detectives  into  their  pay. 
And  yet  there  was  ample  wisdom  shown  in  Chesnel's  choice 
of  a  depository.  A  banker  pays  money  to  any  one  accredited 
to  him  so  long  as  the  money  lasts ;  whereas,  Victurnien  was 
obliged,  every  time  that  he  was  in  want  of  money,  to  make  a 
personal  visit  to  the  notary,  who  was  quite  sure  to  use  the  right 
of  remonstrance. 

Victurnien  heard  that  he  was  to  be  allowed  two  thousand 
francs  every  month,  and  thought  that  he  betrayed  his  joy. 
He  knew  nothing  of  Paris.  He  fancied  that  he  could  keep 
up  princely  state  on  such  a  sum. 

Next  day  he  started  on  his  journey.  The  sudden  departure 
supplied  material  for  conversation  for  several  evenings ;  and 
what  was  more,  it  stirred  the  rancorous  minds  of  the  salon  du 
Croisier  to  the  depths.  The  forage-contractor,  the  president, 
and  others  who  had  vowed  to  ruin  the  d'Esgrignons,  saw  their 
prey  escaping  out  of  their  hands.  They  had  based  their 
schemes  of  revenge  on  a  young  man's  follies,  and  now  he  was 
beyond  their  reach. 

The  tendency  in  human  nature,  which  often  gives  a  bigot  a 
rake  for  a  daughter,  and  makes  a  frivolous  woman  the  mother 
of  a  narrow  pietist;  that  rule  of  contraries,  which,  in  all  prob- 
ability, is  the  "resultant"  of  the  law  of  similarities,  drew 
Victurnien  to  Paris  by  a  desire  to  which  he  must  sooner  or 
later  have  yielded.  Brought  up  as  he  had  been  in  the  old- 
fashioned  provincial  house,  among  the  quiet,  gentle  faces  that 
smiled  upon  him,  among  sober  servants  attached  to  the  family, 
and  surroundings  tinged  with  a  general  color  of  age,  the  bey 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          201 

had  only  seen  friends  worthy  of  respect.  All  of  those  about 
him,  with  the  exception  of  the  chevalier,  that  example  of 
venerable  age,  were  elderly  men  and  women,  sedate  of  man- 
ner, decorous  and  sententious  of  speech.  He  had  been  petted 
by  those  women  in  the  gray  gowns  and  embroidered  mittens 
described  by  Blondet.  The  antiquated  splendors  of  his  father's 
house  were  as  little  calculated  as  possible  to  suggest  frivolous 
thoughts;  and,  lastly,  he  had  been  educated  by  a  sincerely 
religious  abbe,  possessed  of  all  the  charm  of  an  old  age,  which 
has  dwelt  in  two  centuries,  and  brings  to  the  Present  its  gifts 
of  the  dried  roses  of  experience,  the  faded  flowers  of  the  old 
customs  of  its  youth. 

For  him,  his  noble  birth  was  a  stepping-stone  which  raised 
him  above  other  men.  He  felt  that  the  idol  of  Noblesse, 
before  which  they  burned  incense  at  home,  was  hollow ;  he 
had  come  to  be  one  of  the  commonest  as  well  as  one  of  the 
worst  types  from  a  social  point  of  view — a  consistent  egoist. 
The  aristocratic  cult  of  the  Ego  simply  taught  him  to  follow 
his  own  fancies;  he  had  been  idolized  by  those  who  had 
the  care  of  him  in  childhood,  and  adored  by  the  companions 
who  shared  in  his  boyish  escapades,  and  so  he  had  formed  a 
habit  of  looking  and  judging  everything  as  it  affected  his  own 
pleasure ;  he  took  it  as  a  matter  of  course  when  good  souls 
saved  him  from  the  consequences  of  his  follies,  a  piece  of 
mistaken  kindness  which  could  only  lead  to  his  ruin. 

Victurnien  was  quick-sighted,  he  saw  clearly  and  without 
illusion,  but  he  acted  on  impulse,  and  unwisely.  An  indefin- 
able flaw  of  character,  often  seen  in  young  men,  but  impossible 
to  explain,  led  him  to  will  one  thing  and  do  another.  In  spite 
of  an  active  mind,  which  showed  itself  in  unexpected  ways, 
the  senses  had  but  to  assert  themselves,  and  the  darkened  brain 
seemed  to  exist  no  longer.  He  might  have  astonished  wise 
men ;  he  was  capable  of  setting  fools  agape.  His  desires, 
like  a  sudden  squall  of  bad  weather,  overclouded  all  the  clear 
and  lucid  spaces  of  his  brain  in  a  moment ;  and  then,  after 


202         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

the  dissipations  which  he  could  not  resist,  he  sank,  utterly  ex- 
hausted in  body,  heart,  and  mind,  into  a  collapsed  condition 
bordering  upon  imbecility.  Such  a  character  will  drag  a 
man  down  into  the  mire  if  he  is  left  to  himself,  or  bring  him 
to  the  highest  heights  of  political  power  if  he  has  some  stern 
friend  to  keep  him  in  hand.  Neither  Chesnel,  nor  the  lad's 
father,  nor  Aunt  Armande  had  fathomed  the  depths  of  a 
nature  so  nearly  akin  on  many  sides  to  the  poetic  tempera- 
ment, yet  smitten  with  a  terrible  weakness  at  its  core. 

By  the  time  the  old  town  lay  several  miles  away,  Victurnien 
felt  not  the  slightest  regret ;  he  thought  no  more  about  the 
father,  who  had  loved  ten  generations  in  his  son  ;  nor  of  the 
aunt,  and  her  almost  insane  devotion.  He  was  looking  for- 
ward to  Paris  with  vehement  ill-starred  longings,  in  thought 
he  had  lived  in  that  fairyland,  it  had  been  the  background  of 
his  brightest  dreams.  He  imagined  that  he  would  be  first  in 
Paris,  as  he  had  been  in  the  town  and  the  department  where 
his  father's  name  was  potent ;  but  it  was  vanity,  not  pride, 
that  filled  his  soul,  and  in  his  dreams  his  pleasures  were  to  be 
magnified  by  all  the  greatness  of  Paris ;  he  hastened  to  take 
possession  of  it  as  a  famished  horse  rushes  into  a  meadow. 

He  was  not  long  in  finding  out  the  difference  between 
country  and  town,  and  was  rather  surprised  than  abashed  by 
the  change.  His  mental  quickness  soon  discovered  how  small 
an  entity  he  was  in  the  midst  of  this  all-comprehending 
Babylon ;  how  insane  it  would  be  to  attempt  to  stem  the  tor- 
rent of  new  ideas  and  new  ways.  A  single  incident  was 
enough.  He  delivered  his  father's  letter  of  introduction  to 
the  Due  de  Lenoncourt,  a  noble  who  stood  high  in  favor  with 
the  King.  He  saw  the  duke  in  his  splendid  mansion,  among 
surroundings  befitting  his  rank.  Next  day  he  met  him  again. 
This  time  the  Peer  of  France  was  lounging  on  foot  along  the 
boulevard,  just  like  any  ordinary  mortal,  with  an  umbrella  in 
his  hand ;  he  did  not  even  wear  the  Blue  Ribbon,  without 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        203 

which  no  knight  of  the  order  could  have  appeared  in  public 
in  other  times.  And,  duke  and  peer  and  first  gentleman  of 
the  bedchamber  though  he  was,  M.  de  Lenoncourt,  spite  of 
his  high  courtesy,  could  not  repress  a  smile  as  he  read  his 
relative's  letter;  and  that  smile  told  Victurnien  that  the 
Collection  of  Antiquities  and  the  Tuileries  were  separated  by 
more  than  sixty  leagues  of  road — the  distance  of  several  cen- 
turies lay  between  them. 

The  names  of  the  families  grouped  about  the  throne  are 
quite  different  in  each  successive  reign,  and  the  characters 
change  with  the  names.  It  would  seem  that,  in  the  sphere  of 
Court,  the  same  thing  happens  over  and  over  again  in  each 
generation  ;  but  each  time  there  is  a  quite  different  set  of  per- 
sonages. If  history  did  not  prove  that  this  is  so,  it  would 
seem  incredible.  The  prominent  men  at  the  Court  of  Louis 
XVIII.,  for  instance,  had  scarcely  any  connection  with  the 
Rivieres,  Blacas,  d'Avarays,  Vitrolles,  d'Autichamps,  Pas- 
quiers,  Larochejaqueleins,  Decazes,  Dambrays,  Laines,  de 
Villeles,  La  Bourdonnayes,  and  others  who  shone  at  the  Court 
of  Louis  XV.  Compare  the  courtiers  of  Henri  IV.  with  those 
of  Louis  XIV.;  you  will  hardly  find  five  great  families  of  the 
former  time  still  in  existence.  The  nephew  of  the  great 
Richelieu  was  a  very  insignificant  person  at  the  Court  of 
Louis  XIV.;  while  his  majesty's  favorite,  Villeroi,  was  the 
grandson  of  a  secretary  ennobled  by  Charles  IX.  And  so  it 
befell  that  the  d'Esgrignons,  all  but  princes  under  the  Valois, 
and  all-powerful  in  the  time  of  Henri  IV.,  had  no  fortune 
whatever  at  the  Court  of  Louis  XVIII.,  which  gave  them  not 
so  much  as  a  thought.  At  this  day  there  are  names  as  famous 
as  those  of  royal  houses — the  Foix-Graillys,  for  instance,  or 
the  d'Herouvilles — left  to  obscurity  tantamount  to  extinction 
for  want  of  money,  the  one  power  of  the  time. 

All  which  things  Victurnien  beheld  entirely  from  his  own 
point  of  view ;  he  felt  the  equality  that  he  saw  in  Paris  as  a 
personal  wrong.  The  monster  Equality  was  swallowing  down 


204         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

the  last  fragments  of  social  distinction  in  the  Restoration. 
Having  made  up  his  mind  on  this  head,  he  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  try  to  win  back  his  place  with  such  dangerous,  if 
blunted,  weapons  as  the  age  left  to  the  noblesse.  It  is  an 
expensive  matter  to  gain  the  attention  of  Paris.  To  this  end, 
Victurnien  adopted  some  of  the  ways  then  in  vogue.  He  felt 
that  it  was  a  necessity  to  have  horses  and  fine  carriages,  and 
all  the  accessories  of  modern  luxury;  he  felt,  in  short,  "  that 
a  man  must  keep  abreast  of  the  times,"  as  de  Marsay  said — 
de  Marsay,  the  first  dandy  that  he  came  across  in  the  first 
drawing-room  to  which  he  was  introduced.  For  his  misfor- 
tune, he  fell  in  with  a  set  of  roues,  with  de  Marsay,  de  Ron- 
querolles,  Maxime  de  Trailles,  des  Lupeaulx,  Rastignac,  Ajuda- 
Pinto,  Beaudenord,  de  la  Roche-Hugon,  de  Manerville,  and 
the  Vandenesses,  whom  he  met  wherever  he  went,  and  a  great 
many  houses  were  open  to  a  young  man  with  his  ancient  name 
and  reputation  for  wealth.  He  went  to  the  Marquise  d'Es- 
pard's,  to  the  Duchesses  de  Grandlieu,  de  Carigliano,  and  de 
Chaulieu,  to  the  Marquises  d'Aiglemont  and  de  Listomere,  to 
Mme.  de  Serizy's,  to  the  opera,  to  the  embassies  and  else- 
where. The  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  has  its  provincial  gene- 
alogies at  its  fingers'  ends;  a  great  name  once  recognized  and 
adopted  therein  is  a  passport  which  opens  many  a  door  that 
will  scarcely  turn  on  its  hinges  for  unknown  names  or  the 
lions  of  a  lower  rank. 

Victurnien  found  his  relatives  both  amiable  and  ready  to 
welcome  him  so  long  as  he  did  not  appear  as  a  suppliant ;  he 
saw  at  once  that  the  surest  way  of  obtaining  nothing  was  to 
ask  for  something.  At  Paris,  if  the  first  impulse  moves  people 
to  protect,  second  thoughts  (which  last  a  good  deal  longer)  im- 
pel them  to  despise  the  protege.  Independence,  vanity,  and 
pride,  all  the  young  count's  better  and  worse  feelings  com- 
bined, led  him,  on  the  contrary,  to  assume  an  aggressive  atti- 
tude. And  therefore  the  Dues  de  Verneuil,  de  Lenoncourt, 
de  Chaulieu,  de  Navarreins,  d'Herouville,  de  Grandlieu, -and 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        20o 

de  Maufrigneuse,  the  Princes  de  Cadignan  and  de  Blamont- 
Chauvry,  were  delighted  to  present  the  charming  survivor  of 
the  wreck  of  an  ancient  family  at  Court. 

Victurnien  went  to  the  Tuileries  in  a  splendid  carriage  with 
his  armorial  bearings  on  the  panels;  but  his  presentation  to 
his  majesty  made  it  abundantly  clear  to  him  that  the  people 
occupied  the  royal  mind  so  much  that  his  nobility  was  like  to  be 
forgotten.  The  restored  dynasty,  moreover,  was  surrounded 
by  triple  ranks  of  eligible  old  men  and  gray-headed  courtiers; 
the  young  noblesse  was  reduced  to  a  cipher,  and  this  Victur- 
nien guessed  at  once.  He  saw  that  there  was  no  suitable 
place  for  him  at  Court,  nor  in  the  government,  nor  the  army, 
nor,  indeed,  anywhere  else.  So  he  launched  out  into  the 
world  of  pleasure.  Introduced  at  the  Elysee-Bourbon,  at  the 
Duchesse  d'Angoulgme's,  at  the  Pavilion  Marsan,  he  met  on 
all  sides  with  the  surface  civilities  due  to  the  heir  of  an  old 
family,  not  so  old  but  it  could  be  called  to  mind  by  the  sight 
of  a  living  member.  And,  after  all,  it  was  not  a  small  thing 
to  be  remembered.  In  the  distinction  with  which  Victurnien 
was  honored  lay  the  way  to  the  peerage  and  a  splendid 
marriage ;  he  had  taken  the  field  with  a  false  appearance  of 
wealth,  and  his  vanity  would  not  allow  him  to  declare  his  real 
position.  Beside,  he  had  been  so  much  complimented  on  the 
figure  that  he  made,  he  was  so  pleased  with  his  first  success, 
that,  like  many  other  young  men,  he  felt  ashamed  to  draw 
back.  He  took  a  suite  of  rooms  in  the  Rue  du  Bac,  with 
stables  and  a  complete  equipment  for  the  fashionable  life  to 
which  he  had  committed  himself.  These  preliminaries  cost 
him  fifty  thousand  francs,  which  money,  moreover,  the  young 
gentleman  managed  to  draw  in  spite  of  all  Chesnel's  wise  pre- 
cautions, thanks  to  a  series  of  unforeseen  events. 

Chesnel's  letter  certainly  reached  his  friend's  office,  but 
Maitre  Sorbier  was  dead  ;  and  Mme.  Sorbier,  a  matter-of-fact 
person,  seeing  that  it  was  a  business  letter,  handed  it  on  to  her 
husband's  successor.  Maitre  Cardot,  the  new  notary,  informed 


206          THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

the  young  count  that  a  draft  on  the  Treasury  made  payabla  to 
the  deceased  would  be  useless ;  and  by  way  of  reply  to  the  letter, 
which  had  cost  the  old  provincial  notary  so  much  thought, 
Cardot  dispatched  four  lines  intended  not  to  reach  .Chesnel's 
heart,  but  to  produce  the  money.  Chesnel  made  the 
draft  payable  to  Sorbier's  young  successor;  and  the  latter, 
feeling  but  little  inclination  to  adopt  his  correspondent's  senti- 
mentality, was  delighted  to  put  himself  at  the  count's  orders, 
and  gave  Victurnien  as  much  money  as  he  wanted. 

Now  those  who  know  what  life  in  Paris  means,  know  that 
fifty  thousand  francs  will  not  go  very  far  in  furniture,  horses, 
carriages,  and  elegance  generally  ;  but  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  Victurnien  immediately  contracted  some  twenty 
thousand  francs'  worth  of  debts  beside,  and  his  tradespeople 
at  first  were  not  at  all  anxious  to  be  paid,  for  our  young 
gentleman's  fortune  had  been  prodigiously  increased,  partly 
by  rumor,  partly  by  Josephin,  that  Chesnel  in  livery. 

Victurnien  had  not  been  in  town  a  month  before  he  was 
obliged  to  repair  to  his  man  of  business  for  ten  thousand 
francs;  he  had  only  been  playing  whist  with  the  Dues  de 
Navarreins,  de  Chaulieu,  and  de  Lenoncourt,  and  now  and 
again  at  his  club.  He  had  begun  by  winning  some  thousands 
of  francs,  but  pretty  soon  lost  five  or  six  thousand,  which 
brought  home  to  him  the  necessity  of  a  purse  for  play.  A 
man  ought  to  renew  his  wealth  perpetually,  and  as  Nature 
does — below  the  surface  and  out  of  sight.  People  talk  if 
somebody  comes  to  grief;  they  joke  about  a  new-comer's  for- 
tune till  their  minds  are  set  at  rest,  and  at  this  they  draw  the 
line.  Victurnien  d'Esgrignon,  with  all  the  Faubourg  Saint- 
Germain  to  back  him,  with  all  his  protectors  exaggerating  the 
amount  of  his  fortune  (were  it  only  to  rid  themselves  of  re- 
sponsibility), and  magnifying  his  possessions  in  the  most  re- 
fined and  well-bred  way,  with  a  hint  or  a  word  ;  with  all  these 
advantages — to  repeat — Victurnien  was,  in  fact,  an  eligible 
count.  He  was  handsome,  witty,  sound  in  politics;  his 


THE'  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        207 

father  still  possessed  the  ancestral  castle  and  the  lands  of  the 
marquisate.  Such  a  young  fellow  is  sure  of  an  admirable 
reception  in  houses  where  there  are  marriageable  daugh- 
ters, fair  but  portionless  partners  at  dances,  and  young 
married  women  who  find  that  time  hangs  heavy  on  their 
hands.  So  the  world,  smiling,  beckoned  him  to  the  foremost 
benches  in  its  booth  ;  the  seats  reserved  for  marquises  are  still 
in  the  same  place  in  Paris  ;  and  if  the  names  are  changed,  the 
things  are  the  same  as  ever. 

In  the  must  exclusive  circle  of  society  in  the  Faubourg 
Saint-Germain,  Victurnien  found  the  chevalier's  double  in 
the  person  of  the  Vidame  de  Pamiers.  The  vidame  was  a 
Chevalier  de  Valois  raised  to  the  tenth  power,  invested  with 
all  the  prestige  of  wealth,  enjoying  all  the  advantages  of  high 
position.  The  dear  vidame  was  a  repository  for  everybody's 
secrets,  and  the  gazette  of  the  Faubourg  beside  ;  nevertheless, 
he  was  discreet,  and,  like  other  gazettes,  only  said  things  that 
might  safely  be  published.  Again  Victurnien  listened  to  the 
chevalier's  esoteric  doctrines.  The  vidame  told  young  d'Es- 
grignon,  without  mincing  matters,  to  make  conquests  among 
women  of  quality,  supplementing  the  advice  with  anecdotes 
from  his  own  experience.  The  Vicomte  de  Pamiers,  it 
seemed,  had  permitted  himself  much  that  it  would  serve  no 
purpose  to  relate  here ;  so  remote  was  it  from  all  our  modern 
manners,  in  which  soul  and  passion  play  so  large  a  part,  that 
nobody  would  believe  it.  But  the  excellent  vidame  did  more 
than  this. 

"  Dine  with  me  at  a  cafe  to-morrow,"  said  he,  by  way  of 
conclusion.  "  We  will  digest  our  dinner  at  the  opera,  and 
afterward  I  will  take  you  to  a  house  where  several  people  have 
the  greatest  wish  to  meet  you." 

The  vidame  gave  a  delightful  little  dinner  at  the  Rocher  de 
Cancale  ;  three  guests  only  were  asked  to  meet  Victurnien — 
de  Marsay,  Rastignac,  and  Blondet.  Emile  Blondet,  the 
young  count's  fellow-towpsman,  was  a  man  of  letters  on  the 


208          THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

outskirts  of  society  to  which  he  had  been  introduced  by  a 
charming  woman  from  the  same  province.  This  was  one  of 
the  Vicomte  de  Troisville's  daughters,  now  married  to  the 
Comte  de  Montcornet,  one  of  those  of  Napoleon's  generals 
who  went  over  to  the  Bourbons.  The  vidame  held  that  a 
dinner-party  of  more  than  six  persons  was  beneath  contempt. 
In  that  case,  according  to  him,  there  was  an  end  alike  of 
cookery  and  conversation,  and  a  man  could  not  sip  his  wine 
in  a  proper  frame  of  mind. 

"  I  have  not  yet  told  you,  my  dear  boy,  where  I  mean  to 
take  you  to-night,"  he  said,  taking  Victurnien's  hands,  and 
tapping  on  them.  "You  are  going  to  see  Mademoiselle  des 
Touches ;  all  the  pretty  women  with  any  pretensions  to  wit 
will  be  at  her  house  en  petit  comite*  Literature,  art,  poetry, 
any  sort  of  genius,  in  short,  is  held  in  great  esteem  there.  It 
is  one  of  our  old-world  bureaux  (T esprit,  with  a  veneer  of 
monarchical  doctrine,  the  livery  of  this  present  age." 

"  It  is  sometimes  as  tiresome  and  tedious  there  as  a  pair  of 
new  boots,  but  there  are  women  with  whom  you  cannot  meet 
anywhere  else,"  said  de  Marsay. 

"  If  all  the  poets  who  went  there  to  rub  up  their  muse  were 
like  our  friend  here,"  said  Rastignac,  tapping  Blondet  famil- 
iarly on  the  shoulder,  "  we  should  have  some  fun.  But  a 
plague  of  odes,  and  ballads,  and  driveling  meditations,  and 
novels  with  wide  margins,  pervades  the  sofas  and  the  atmos- 
phere." 

"I  don't  dislike  them,"  said  de  Marsay,  "so  long  as  they 
corrupt  girls'  minds  and  don't  spoil  women." 

"Gentlemen,"  smiled  Blondet,  "you  are  encroaching  on 
my  field  of  literature." 

"You  need  not  talk.  You  have  robbed  us  of  the  most 
charming  woman  in  the  world,  you  lucky  rogue ;  we  may  be 
allowed  to  steal  your  less  brilliant  ideas,"  cried  Rastignac. 

"Yes,   he   is   a   lucky  rascal,"  said   the  vidame*  and   he 

*  Having  a  little  meeting. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         200 

twitched  Blondet's  ear.     "But  perhaps  Victurnien  here  will 
be  luckier  still  this  evening " 

"Already /"  exclaimed  de  Marsay.  "Why,  he  only  came 
here  a  month  ago ;  he  has  scarcely  had  time  to  shake  the  dust 
of  his  old  manor-house  off  his  feet,  to  wipe  off  the  brine  in 
which  his  aunt  kept  him  preserved  ;  he  has  only  just  set  up  a 
decent  horse,  a  tilbury  in  the  latest  style,  a  groom " 

"No,  no,  not  a  groom,"  interrupted  Rastignac ;  "he  has 
some  sort  of  an  agricultural  laborer  that  he  brought  with  him 
'from  his  place.'  Buisson,  who  understands  a  livery  as  well 
as  most,  declared  that  the  man  was  physically  incapable  of 
wearing  a  jacket." 

"I  will  tell  you  what,  you  ought  to  have  modeled  yourself 
on  Beaudenord,"  the  vidame  said  seriously.  "He  has  this 
advantage  over  all  of  you,  my  young  friends,  he  has  a  genuine 
specimen  of  the  English  tiger " 

"Just  see,  gentlemen,  what  the  noblesse  have  come  to  in 
France!  "  cried  Victurnien.  "For  them  the  one  important 
thing  is  to  have  a  tiger,  a  thoroughbred,  and  baubles " 

"Bless  me!"  said  Blondet.  "'This  gentleman's  good 
sense  at  times  appalls  me.'  Well,  yes,  young  moralist,  you 
nobles  have  come  to  that.  You  have  not  even  left  to  you 
that  lustre  of  lavish  expenditure  for  which  the  dear  vidame 
was  famous  fifty  years  ago.  We  revel  on  a  second  floor  in  the 
Rue  Montorgueil.  There  are  no  more  wars  with  the  cardinal, 
no  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold.  You,  Comte  d'Esgrignon,  in 
short,  are  supping  in  the  company  of  one  Blondet,  younger 
son  of  a  miserable  provincial  magistrate,  with  whom  you  would 
not  shake  hands  down  yonder ;  and  in  ten  years'  time  you 
may  sit  beside  him  among  peers  of  the  realm.  Believe  in 
yourself  after  that,  if  you  can." 

"Ah,  well,"  said  Rastignac,  "we  have  passed  from  action 
to  thought,  from  brute  force  to  force  of  intellect — we  are 
talking " 

"Let  us  not  talk  of  our  reverses,"  protested  the  vidame  j 
14 


210         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"  1  have  made  up  my  mind  to  die  merrily.  If  our  friend  here 
has  not  a  tiger  as  yet,  he  comes  of  a  race  of  lions,  and  can 
dispense  with  one." 

"He  cannot  do  without  a  tiger,"  said  Blondet ;  "he  is 
too  newly  come  to  town." 

"His  elegance  maybe  new  as  yet,"  returned  de  Marsay, 
"  but  we  are  adopting  it.  He  is  worthy  of  us,  he  understands 
his  age,  he  has  brains,  he  is  nobly  born  and  gently  bred  ;  we 
are  going  to  like  him,  and  serve  him,  and  push  him " 

"Whither?"  inquired  Blondet. 

"  Inquisitive  soul  !  "  said  Rastignac. 

"With  whom  will  he  take  up  to-night?"  de  Marsay  asked. 

"With  a  whole  seraglio,"  said  the  vidame. 

"  Plague  take  it  !  What  can  we  have  done  that  the  dear 
vidame  is  punishing  us  by  keeping  his  word  to  the  infanta  ? 
I  should  be  pitiable  indeed  if  I  did  not  know  her " 

"And  I  was  once  a  coxcomb  even  as  he,"  said  the  vidame, 
indicating  de  Marsay. 

The  conversation  continued  pitched  in  the  same  key,  charm- 
ingly scandalous  and  agreeably  corrupt.  The  dinner  went 
off  very  pleasantly.  Rastignac  and  de  Marsay  went  to  the 
opera  with  the  vidame  and  Victurnien,  with  a  view  to  follow- 
ing them  afterward  to  Mile,  des  Touches'  salon.  And  thither, 
accordingly,  this  pair  of  rakes  betook  themselves,  calculating 
that  by  that  time  the  tragedy  would  have  been  read  ;  for  of 
all  things  to  be  taken  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  at 
night,  a  tragedy  in  their  opinion  was  the  most  unwholesome. 
They  went  to  keep  a  watch  on  Victurnien  and  to  embarrass 
him,  a  piece  of  schoolboy's  mischief  embittered  by  a  jealous 
dandy's  spite.  But  Victurnien  was  gifted  with  that  page's 
effrontery  which  is  a  great  help  to  ease  of  manner ;  and  Ras- 
tignac, watching  him  as  he  made  his  entrance,  was  surprised 
to  see  how  quickly  he  caught  the  tone  of  the  moment. 

"That  young  d'Esgrignon  will  go  far,  will  he  not?"  he 
said,  addressing  his  companion. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        211 

"  That  is  as  may  be,"  returned  de  Marsay,  "  but  he  is  in  a 
fair  way." 

The  vidame  introduced  his  young  friend  to  one  of  the  most 
amiable  and  frivolous  duchesses  of  the  day,  a  lady  whose 
adventures  caused  an  explosion  five  years  later.  Just  then, 
however,  she  was  in  the  full  blaze  of  her  glory ;  she  had  been 
suspected,  it  is  true,  of  equivocal  conduct ;  but  suspicion, 
while  it  is  still  suspicion  and  not  proof,  marks  a  woman  out 
with  the  kind  of  distinction  which  slander  gives  to  a  man. 
Nonentities  are  never  slandered  ;  they  chafe  because  they  are 
left  in  peace.  This  woman  was,  in  fact,  the  Duchesse  de 
Maufrigneuse,  a  daughter  of  the  d'Uxelles  ;  her  father-in-law 
was  still  alive  •  she  was  not  to  be  the  Princesse  de  Cadignan 
for  some  years  to  come.  A  friend  of  the  Duchesse  de  Lan- 
geais  and  the  Vicomtesse  de  Beauseant,  two  glories  departed, 
she  was  likewise  intimate  with  the  Marquise  d'Espard,  with 
whom  she  disputed  her  fragile  sovereignty  as  queen  of  fashion. 
Great  relations  lent  her  countenance  for  a  long  while,  but 
the  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse  was  one  of  those  women  who, 
in  some  way,  nobody  knows  how,  or  why,  or  where,  will 
spend  the  rents  of  all  the  lands  of  earth,  and  of  the  moon 
likewise,  if  they  were  not  out  of  reach.  The  general  outline 
of  her  character  was  scarcely  known  as  yet ;  de  Marsay,  and 
de  Marsay  only,  really  had  read  her.  That  redoubtable  dandy 
now  watched  the  Vidame  de  Farmer's  introduction  of  his 
young  friend  to  that  lovely  woman,  and  bent  over  to  say  in 
Rastignac's  ear — 

"  My  dear  fellow,  he  will  go  up  whizz  !  like  a  rocket,  and 
come  down  like  a  stick,"  an  atrociously  vulgar  saying  which 
was  remarkably  fulfilled. 

The  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse  had  lost  her  heart  to  Vic- 
turnien  after  first  giving  her  mind  to  a  serious  study  of  him. 
Any  lover  who  should  have  caught  the  glance  by  which  she 
expressed  her  gratitude  to  the  vidame  might  well  have  been 


212         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

jealous  of  such  friendship.  Women  are  like  horses  let  loose 
on  a  prairie  when  they  feel,  as  the  duchess  felt  with  the  Vi- 
darne  de  Pamiers,  that  the  ground  is  safe;  at  such  moments 
they  are  themselves ;  perhaps  it  pleases  them  to  give,  as  it  were, 
samples  of  their  tenderness  in  intimacy  in  this  way.  It  was  a 
guarded  glance,  nothing  was  lost  between  eye  and  eye ;  there 
was  no  possibility  of  reflection  in  any  mirror.  Nobody  inter- 
cepted it. 

"  See  how  she  has  prepared  herself,"  Rastignac  said,  turning 
to  de  Marsay.  "What  a  virginal  toilette;  what  swan's  grace 
in  that  snow-white  throat  of  hers  !  How  white  her  gown  is, 
and  she  is  wearing  a  sash  like  a  little  girl ;  she  looks  round 
like  a  madonna  inviolate.  Who  would  think  that  you  had 
passed  that  way  ? ' ' 

"The  very  reason  why  she  looks  as  she  does,"  returned  de 
Marsay,  with  a  triumphant  air. 

The  two  young  men  exchanged  a  smile.  Mme.  de  Mau- 
frigneuse  saw  the  smile  and  guessed  at  their  conversation,  and 
gave  the  pair  a  broadside  of  her  eyes,  an  art  acquired  by 
Frenchwomen  since  the  Peace,  when  Englishwomen  imported 
it  into  this  country,  together  with  the  shape  of  their  silver, 
their  horses  and  harness,  and  the  piles  of  insular  ice  which 
impart  a  refreshing  coolness  to  the  atmosphere  of  any  room  in 
which  a  certain  number  of  British  females  are  gathered  to- 
gether. The  young  men  grew  serious  as  a  couple  of  clerks  at 
the  end  of  a  homily  from  headquarters  before  the  receipt  of 
an  unexpected  bonus. 

The  duchess,  when  she  lost  her  heart  to  Victurnien,  had 
made  up  her  mind  to  play  the  part  of  romantic  Innocence,  a 
role  much  understudied  subsequently  by  other  women,  for  the 
misfortune  of  modern  youth.  Her  grace  of  Maufrigneuse  had 
just  come  out  as  an  angel  at  a  moment's  notice,  precisely  as 
she  meant  to  turn  to  literature  and  science  somewhere  about 
her  fortieth  year  instead  of  taking  to  devotion.  She  made  a 
point  of  being  like  nobody  else.  Her  parts,  her  dresses,  her 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         213 

caps,  opinions,  toilettes,  and  manner  of  acting  were  all  entirely 
new  and  original.  Soon  after  her  marriage,  when  she  was 
scarcely  more  than  a  girl,  she  had  played  the  part  of  a  knowing 
and  almost  depraved  woman  ;  she  ventured  on  risky  repartees 
with  shallow  people,  and  betrayed  her  ignorance  to  those  who 
knew  better.  As  the  date  of  that  marriage  made  it  impossible 
to  abstract  one  little  year  from  her  age  without  the  knowledge 
of  Time,  and  as  her  grace  had  reached  her  twenty-sixth  year, 
she  had  taken  it  into  her  head  to  be  immaculate.  She  scarcely 
seemed  to  belong  to  earth ;  she  shook  out  her  wide  sleeves  as 
if  they  had  been  wings.  Her  eyes  fled  to  heaven  at  too  warm 
a  glance,  or  word,  or  thought. 

There  is  a  madonna  painted  by  Piola,  the  great  Genoese 
painter,  who  bade  fair  to  bring  out  a  second  edition  of  Ra- 
phael till  his  career  was  cut  short  by  jealousy  and  murder ;  his 
madonna,  however,  you  may  dimly  discern  through  a  pane  of 
glass  in  a  little  street  in  Genoa. 

A  more  chaste-eyed  madonna  than  Piola's  does  not  exist ; 
but,  compared  with  Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse,  that  heavenly 
creature  was  a  Messalina.  Women  wondered  among  them- 
selves how  such  a  giddy  young  thing  had  been  transformed  by 
a  change  of  dress  into  the  fair-veiled  seraph  who  seemed  (to 
use  an  expression  now  in  vogue)  to  have  a  soul  as  white  as 
new-fallen  snow  on  the  highest  Alpine  crests  ?  How  had  she 
solved  in  such  short  space  the  Jesuitical  problem  how  to 
display  a  bosom  whiter  than  her  soul  by  hiding  it  in  gauze  ? 
How  could  she  look  so  ethereal  while  her  eyes  drooped  so 
murderously?  Those  almost  wanton  glances  seemed  to  give 
promise  of  untold  languorous  delight,  while  by  an  ascetic's 
sigh  of  aspiration  after  a  better  life  the  mouth  appeared  to 
add  that  none  of  those  promises  would  be  fulfilled.  Ingenuous 
youths  (for  there  were  a  few  to  be  found  in  the  Guards  of  that 
day)  privately  wondered  whether,  in  the  most  intimate  moments, 
it  were  possible  to  speak  familiarly  to  this  White  Lady,  this 
starry  vapor  slidden  down  from  the  Milky  Way.  This 


214         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

system,  whick  answered  completely  for  some  years  at  a  stretch, 
was  turned  to  good  account  by  women  of  fashion,  whose 
breasts  were  lined  with  a  stout  philosophy,  for  they  could 
cloak  no  inconsiderable  exactions  with  these  little  airs  from 
the  sacristy.  Not  one  of  the  celestial  creatures  but  was  quite 
well  aware  of  the  possibilities  of  less  ethereal  love  which  lay 
in  the  longing  of  every  well-conditioned  male  to  recall  such 
beings  to  earth.  It  was  a  fashion  which  permitted  them  to 
abide  in  a  semi-religious,  semi-Ossianic  empyrean  ;  they  could, 
and  did,  ignore  all  the  practical  details  of  daily  life,  a  short 
and  easy  method  of  disposing  of  many  questions.  De  Marsay, 
foreseeing  the  future  developments  of  the  system,  added  a  last 
word,  for  he  saw  that  Rastignac  was  jealous  of  Victurnien. 

"  My  boy,"  said  he,  "stay  as  you  are.  Our  Nucingen  will 
make  your  fortune,  whereas  the  duchess  would  ruin  you.  She 
is  too  expensive." 

Rastignac  allowed  de  Marsay  to  go  without  asking  further 
questions.  He  knew  Paris.  He  knew  that  the  most  refined 
and  noble  and  disinterested  of  women — a  woman  who  cannot 
be  induced  to  accept  anything  but  a  bouquet — can  be  as 
dangerous  an  acquaintance  for  a  young  man  as  any  opera  girl 
of  former  days.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  opera  girl  is  an 
almost  mythical  being.  As  things  are  now  at  the  theatres, 
dancers  and  actresses  are  about  as  amusing  as  a  declaration  of 
the  rights  of  woman,  they  are  puppets  that  go  abroad  in  the 
morning  in  the  character  of  respected  and  respectable  mothers 
of  families,  and  act  men's  parts  in  tight-fitting  garments  at 
night. 

Worthy  M.  Chesnel,  in  his  country  notary's  office,  was 
right ;  he  had  foreseen  one  of  the  reefs  on  which  the  count 
might  make  shipwreck.  Victurnien  was  dazzled  by  the  poetic 
aureola  which  Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse  chose  to  assume ;  he 
was  chained  and  padlocked  from  the  first  hour  in  her  com- 
pany, bound  captive  by  that  girlish  sash,  and  caught  by  the 
curls  twined  round  fairy  fingers.  Far  corrupted  the  boy  was 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A   COUNTRY  TOWN.        215 

already,  but  he  really  believed  in  that  farrago  of  maidenliness 
and  muslin,  in  sweet  looks  as  much  studied  as  an  Act  of  Par- 
liament. And  if  the  one  man,  who  is  in  duty  bound  to  be- 
lieve in  feminine  fibs,  is  deceived  by  them,  is  not  that  enough  ? 

The  converse  which  Victurnien  held  with  the  duchess  can 
be  kept  up  at  his  age  without  too  great  a  strain.  He  was 
young  enough  and  ignorant  enough  of  life  in  Paris  to  feel  no 
necessity  to  be  upon  his  guard,  no  need  to  keep  a  watch 
over  his  lightest  words  and  glances.  The  religious  senti- 
mentalism,  which  finds  a  broadly  humorous  commentary  in 
the  after-thoughts  of  either  speaker,  puts  the  old-world  French 
chat  of  men  and  women,  with  its  pleasant  familiarity,  its 
lively  ease,  quite  out  of  the  question  j  they  make  love  in  a 
mist  nowadays. 

Victurnien  was  just  sufficient  of  an  unsophisticated  provin- 
cial to  remain  suspended  in  a  highly  appropriate  and  unfeigned 
rapture  which  pleased  the  duchess ;  for  women  are  no  more 
to  be  deceived  by  the  comedies  which  men  play  than  by  their 
own.  Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse  calculated,  not  without  dismay, 
that  the  young  count's  infatuation  was  likely  to  hold  good  for 
six  whole  months  of  disinterested  love.  She  looked  so  lovely 
in  this  dove's  mood,  quenching  the  light  in  her  eyes  by  the 
golden  ^fringe  of  their  lashes,  that  when  the  Marquise  d'Espard 
bade  her  friend  good-night,  she  whispered :  "  Good  !  very 
good,  dear!  "  And  with  these  farewell  words,  the  fair  mar- 
quise left  her  rival  to  make  the  tour  of  the  modern  pays  du 
Tendre ;  which,  by  the  way,  is  not  so  absurd  a  conception  as 
some  appear  to  think.  New  maps  of  the  country  are  engraved 
for  each  generation  ;  and  if  the  names  of  the  routes  are  differ- 
ent, they  still  lead  to  the  same  capital  city. 

In  the  course  of  an  hour's  Ute-d-tlte,  on  a  corner  sofa,  under 
the  eyes  of  the  world,  the  duchess  brought  young  d'Esgrignon 
as  far  as  Scipio's  Generosity,  the  Devotion  of  Amadis,  and 
Chivalrous  Self-abnegation  (for  the  Middle  Ages  were  just 
coming  into  fashion,  with  their  daggers,  machicolations,  hau- 


216         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

berks,  chain-mail,  peaked  shoes,  and  romantic,  painted  card- 
board properties).  She  had  an  admirable  turn,  moreover,  for 
leaving  things  unsaid,  for  leaving  ideas  in  a  discreet,  seem- 
ingly careless  way,  to  work  their  way  down,  one  by  one,  into 
Victurnien's  heart,  like  needles  into  a  cushion.  She  possessed 
a  marvelous  skill  in  reticence ;  she  was  charming  in  hypocrisy, 
lavish  of  subtle  promises,  which  revived  hope  and  then  melted 
away  like  ice  in  the  sun  if  you  looked  at  them  closely,  and 
most  treacherous  in  the  desire  which  she  felt  and  inspired. 
At  the  close  of  this  charming  encounter  she  produced  the  run- 
ning noose  of  an  invitation  to  call,  and  flung  it  over  him  with 
a  dainty  demureness  which  the  printed  page  can  never  set 
forth. 

"You  will  forget  me,"  she  said.  "  You  will  find  so  many 
women  eager  to  pay  court  to  you  instead  of  enlightening 

you But  you  will  come  back  to  me  undeceived.  Are 

you  coming  to  me  first? No.  As  you  will.  For  my 

own  part,  I  tell  you  frankly  that  your  visits  will  be  a  great 
pleasure  to  me.  People  of  soul  are  so  rare,  and  I  think  that 
you  are  one  of  them.  Come,  farewell ;  people  will  begin  to 
talk  about  us  if  we  talk  together  any  longer." 

She  made  good  her  words  and  took  flight.  Victurnien 
went  soon  afterward,  but  not  before  others  had  guessed  his 
ecstatic  condition ;  his  face  wore  the  expression  peculiar  to 
happy  men,  something  between  an  Inquisitor's  calm  discre- 
tion and  the  self-contained  beatitude  of  a  devotee,  fresh  from 
the  confessional  and  absolution. 

"  Madame  de  Maufrigneuse  went  pretty  briskly  to  the  point 
this  evening,"  said  the  Duchesse  de  Grandlieu,  when  only 
half-a-dozen  persons  were  left  in  Mile,  des  Touches'  little 
drawing-room — to  wit,  des  Lupeaulx,  a  master  of  requests, 
who  at  that  time  stood  very  well  at  Court,  Vandenesse,  the 
Vicomtesse  de  Grandlieu,  Monsieur  Canalis,  and  Madame  de 
Serizy. 

"D'Esgrignon  and  Maufrigneuse  are  two  names  that  are 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          217 

sure  to  cling  together,"  said  Mme.  de  Serizy,  who  aspired  to 
epigram. 

"  For  some  days  past  she  has  been  out  at  grass  on  Pla- 
tonism,"  said  des  Lupeaulx. 

"She  will  ruin  that  poor  innocent,"  added  Charles  de 
Vandenesse. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Mile,  des  Touches. 

"Oh,  morally  and  financially,  beyond  all  doubt,"  said  the 
vicomtesse,  rising. 

The  cruel  words  were  cruelly  true  for  young  d'Esgrignon. 

Next  morning  he  wrote  to  his  aunt  describing  his  introduc- 
tion into  the  high  world  of  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  in 
bright  colors  flung  by  the  prism  of  love,  explaining  the  recep- 
tion which  met  him  everywhere  in  a  way  which  gratified  his 
father's  family  pride.  The  marquis  would  have  the  whole 
long  letter  read  to  him  twice ;  he  rubbed  his  hands  when  he 
heard  of  the  Vidame  des  Farmers'  dinner — the  vidame  was  an 
old  acquaintance — and  of  the  subsequent  introduction  to  the 
duchess ;  but  at  Blondet's  name  he  lost  himself  in  conjectures. 
What  could  the  younger  son  of  a  judge,  a  public  prosecutor 
during  the  Revolution,  have  been  doing  there  ? 

There  was  joy  that  evening  among  the  Collection  of  An- 
tiquities. They  talked  over  the  young  count's  success.  So 
discreet  were  they  with  regard  to  Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse,  that 
the  one  man  who  heard  the  secret  was  the  chevalier.  There 
was  no  financial  postscript  at  the  end  of  the  letter,  no  unpleas- 
ant concluding  reference  to  the  sinews  of  war,  which  every 
young  man  makes  in  such  a  case.  Mile.  Armande  showed  it 
to  Chesnel.  Chesnel  was  pleased  and  raised  not  a  single 
objection.  It  was  clear,  as  the  marquis  and  the  chevalier 
agreed,  that  a  young  man  in  favor  with  the  Duchesse  de  Mau- 
frigneuse would  shortly  be  a  hero  at  Court,  where  in  the  old 
days  women  were  all-powerful.  The  count  had  not  made  a 
bad  choice.  The  dowagers  told  over  all  the  gallant  adven- 
tures of  the  Maufrigneuses  from  Louis  XIII.  to  Louis  XVI. — 


218         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

they  spared  to  inquire  into  preceding  reigns — and  when  all 
was  done  they  were  enchanted.  Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse  was 
much  praised  for  interesting  herself  in  Victurnien.  Any 
writer  of  plays  in  search  of  a  piece  of  pure  comedy  would 
have  found  it  well  worth  his  while  to  listen  to  the  Antiquities 
in  conclave. 

Victurnien  received  charming  letters  from  his  father  and 
aunt,  and  also  from  the  chevalier.  That  gentleman  recalled 
himself  to  the  vidame's  memory.  He  had  been  at  Spa  with 
M.  de  Pamiers  in  1778,  after  a  certain  journey  made  by  a 
celebrated  Hungarian  princess.  And  Chesnel  also  wrote. 
The  fond  flattery  to  which  the  unhappy  boy  was  only  too  well 
accustomed  shone  out  of  every  page ;  and  Mile.  Armande 
seemed  to  share  half  of  Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse's  happiness. 

Thus  happy  in  the  approval  of  his  family,  the  young  count 
made  a  spirited  beginning  in  the  perilous  and  costly  ways  of 
dandyism.  He  had  five  horses — he  was  moderate — de  Marsay 
had  fourteen  !  He  returned  the  vidame's  hospitality,  even 
including  Blondet  in  the  invitation,  as  well  as  de  Marsay  and 
Rastignac.  The  dinner  cost  five  hundred  francs,  and  the 
noble  provincial  was  filed  on  the  same  scale.  Victurnien 
played  a  good  deal,  and,  for  his  misfortune,  at  the  fashionable 
game  of  whist. 

He  laid  out  his  days  in  busy  idleness.  Every  day  between 
twelve  and  three  o'clock  he  was  with  the  duchess ;  afterward 
he  went  to  meet  her  in  the  Bois  de  .Boulogne  and  ride  beside 
her  carriage.  Sometimes  the  charming  couple  rode  together, 
but  this  was  early  on  fine  summer  mornings.  Society,  balls, 
the  theatre,  and  gayety  filled  the  count's  evening  hours. 
Everywhere  Victurnien  made  a  brilliant  figure ;  everywhere 
he  flung  the  pearls  of  his  wit  broadcast. 

The  duchess,  so  white  and  fragile  and  angel-like,  felt  at- 
tracted to  the  dissipations  of  bachelor  life  ;  she  enjoyed  first 
nights;  she  liked  anything  amusing,  anything  improvised. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        219 

Bohemian  restaurants  lay  outside  her  experience ;  so  d'Esgrig- 
non  got  up  a  charming  little  party  at  the  Rocher  de  Cancale 
for  her  benefit,  asked  all  the  amiable  scamps  whom  she  culti- 
vated and  sermonized,  and  there  was  a  vast  amount  of  merri- 
ment, wit,  and  gayety,  and  a  corresponding  bill  to  pay.  That 
supper  party  led  to  others.  And  through  it  all  Victurnien 
worshiped  her  as  an  angel.  Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse  for  him 
was  still  an  angel,  untouched  by  any  taint  of  earth ;  an  angel 
at  the  Varietes,  where  she  sat  out  the  half-obscene,  vulgar 
farces,  which  made  her  laugh ;  an  angel  through  the  cross-fire 
of  highly  flavored  jests  and  scandalous  anecdotes,  which  en- 
livened a  stolen  frolic;  a 'languishing  angel  in  the  latticed 
box  at  the  Vaudeville;  an  angel  while  she  criticised  the 
postures  of  opera-dancers  with  the  experience  of  an  elderly 
habitue  of  le  coin  de  la  reinc ;  an  angel  at  the  Porte  Saint- 
Martin,  at  the  little  boulevard  theatres,  at  the  masked  balls, 
which  she  enjoyed  like  any  schoolboy.  She  was  an  angel 
who  asked  him  for  the  love  that  lives  by  self-abnegation  and 
heroism  and  self-sacrifice ;  an  angel  who  would  have  her  lover 
live  like  an  English  lord,  with  an  income  of  a  million  francs. 
D'Esgrignon  once  exchanged  a  horse  because  the  animal's 
coat  did  not  satisfy  her  notions.  At  play  she  was  an  angel, 
and  certainly  no  bourgeoise  that  ever  lived  could  have  bidden 
d'Esgrignon  "Stake  for  me!  "  in  such  an  angelic  way.  She 
was  so  divinely  reckless  in  her  folly  that  a  man  might  well 
have  sold  his  soul  to  the  devil  lest  this  angel  should  lose  her 
taste  for  earthly  pleasures. 

The  first  winter  went  by.  The  count  had  drawn  on  M. 
Cardot  for  the  trifling  sum  of  thirty  thousand  francs  over  and 
above  Chesnel's  remittance.  As  Cardot  very  carefully  re- 
frained from  using  his  right  of  remonstrance,  Victurnien  now 
learned  for  the  first  time  that  he  had  overdrawn  his  account. 
He  was  the  more  offended  by  an  extremely  polite  refusal  to 
make  any  further  advance,  since  it  so  happened  that  he  had 


220         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

just  lost  six  thousand  francs  at  play  at  the  club,  and  he  could 
not  very  well  show  himself  there  until  they  were  paid. 

After  growing  indignant  with  Maitre  Cardot,  who  had 
trusted  him  with  thirty  thousand  francs  (Cardot  had  written 
to  Chesnel,  but  to  the  fair  duchess'  favorite  he  made  the  most 
of  his  so-called  confidence  in  him),  after  all  this,  d'Esgrignon 
was  obliged  to  ask  the  lawyer  to  tell  him  how  to  set  about 
raising  the  money,  since  debts  of  honor  were  in  question. 

"  Draw  bills  on  your  father's  banker,  and  take  them  to  his 
correspondent ;  he,  no  doubt,  will  discount  them  for  you. 
Then  write  to  your  family,  and  tell  them  to  remit  the  amount 
to  the  banker." 

An  inner  voice  seemed  to  suggest  du  Croisier's  name  in  this 
predicament.  He  had  seen  du  Croisier  on  his  knees  to  the 
aristocracy,  and  of  the  man's  real  disposition  he  was  entirely 
ignorant.  So  to  du  Croisier  he  wrote  a  very  off-hand  letter, 
informing  him  that  he  had  drawn  a  bill  of  exchange  on  him 
for  ten  thousand  francs,  adding  that  the  amount  would  be 
repaid  on  receipt  of  the  letter  either  by  M.  Chesnel  or  by 
Mile.  Armande  d'Esgrignon.  Then  he  indited  two  touching 
epistles — one  to  Chesnel,  another  to  his  aunt.  In  the  matter 
of  going  headlong  to  ruin,  a  young  man  often  shows  singular 
ingenuity  and  ability,  and  fortune  favors  him.  In  the  morn- 
ing Victurnien  happened  on  the  name  of  the  Paris  bankers  in 
correspondence  with  du  Croisier,  and  de  Marsay  furnished  him 
with  the  Kellers'  address.  De  Marsay  knew  everything  in 
Paris.  The  Kellers  took  the  bill  and  gave  him  the  sum  with- 
out a  word,  after  deducting  the  discount.  The  balance  of  the 
account  was  in  du  Croisier's  favor. 

But  the  gaming  debt  was  as  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
state  of  things  at  home.  Invoices  and  accounts  showered  in 
upon  Victurnien. 

"  I  say  !  Do  you  trouble  yourself  about  that  sort  of  thing?" 
Rastignac  said,  laughing.  "Are  you  putting  them  in  order, 
my  dear  boy?  I  did  not  think  you  were  so  business-like." 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        221 

"  My  dear  fellow,  it  is  quite  time  I  thought  about  it ;  there 
are  twenty-odd  thousand  francs  there." 

De  Marsay,  coming  in  to  lookup  d'Esgrignon  for  a  steeple- 
chase, produced  a  dainty  little  pocket-book,  took  out  twenty 
thousand  francs,  and  handed  them  to  him. 

"  It  is  the  best  way  of  keeping  the  money  safe,"  said  he  ; 
"  I  am  twice  enchanted  to  have  won  it  yesterday  from  my 
honored  father,  Milord  Dudley." 

Such  French  grace  completely  fascinated  d'Esgrignon  ;  he 
took  it  for  friendship  ;  and  as  to  the  money,  punctually  forgot 
to  pay  his  debts  with  it,  and  spent  it  on  his  pleasures.  The 
fact  was  that  de  Marsay  was  looking  on  with  an  unspeakable 
pleasure  while  young  d'Esgrignon  "  got  out  of  his  depth,"  in 
dandy's  idiom  ;  it  pleased  de  Marsay  in  all  sorts  of  fondling 
ways  to  lay  an  arm  on  the  lad's  shoulder ;  by-and-by  he 
should  feel  its  weight,  and  disappear  the  sooner.  For  de 
Marsay  was  jealous  ;  the  duchess  flaunted  her  love  affair  ;  she 
was  not  at  home  to  other  visitors  when  d'Esgrignon  was  with 
her.  And  beside,  de  Marsay  was  one  of  those  savage  humor- 
ists who  delight  in  mischief,  as  Turkish  women  in  the  bath. 
So,  when  he  had  carried  off  the  prize,  and  bets  were  settled 
at  the  tavern  where  they  breakfasted,  and  a  bottle  or  two  of 
good  wine  had  appeared,  de  Marsay  turned  to  d'Esgrignon 
with  a  laugh — 

"  Those  bills  that  you  are  worrying  over  are  not  yours,  I 
am  sure." 

"Eh!  if  they  weren't,  why  should  he  worry  himself?" 
asked  Rastignac. 

"And  whose  should  they  be?"  d'Esgrignon  inquired. 

"Then  you  do  not  know  the  duchess'  position?"  queried 
de  Marsay,  as  he  sprang  into  the  saddle. 

"No,"  said  d'Esgrignon,  his  curiosity  aroused. 

"Well,  dear  fellow,  it  is  like  this,"  returned  de  Marsay — 
"  thirty  thousand  francs  to  Victorine,  eighteen  thousand  francs 
to  Houbigaut,  lesser  amounts  to  Herbault,  Nattier,  Nourtier, 


222         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

and  those  Latour  people — altogether  a  hundred  thousand 
francs." 

"An  angel!"  cried  d'Esgrignon,  with  eyes  uplifted  to 
heaven. 

"This  is  the  bill  for  her  wings,'  Rastignac  cried  face- 
tiously. 

"She  owes  all  that,  my  dear  boy,"  continued  de  Marsay, 
"precisely  because  she  is  an  angel.  But  we  have  all  seen 
angels  in  this  position,"  he  added,  glancing  at  Rastignac  ; 
"  there  is  this  about  women  that  is  sublime,  they  understand 
nothing  of  money;  they  do  not  meddle  with  it,  it  is  no  affair 
of  theirs ;  they  are  invited  guests  at  the  '  banquet  of  life,'  as 
some  poet  or  other  said  that  came  to  an  end  in  the  work- 
house." 

"How  do  you  know  this  when  I  do  not?"  d'Esgrignon 
artlessly  returned. 

"  You  are  sure  to  be  the  last  to  know  it,  just  as  she  is  sure 
to  be  the  last  to  hear  that  you  are  in  debt." 

"  I  thought  she  had  a  hundred  thousand  livres  a  year,"  said 
d'Esgrignon. 

"  Her  husband,"  replied  de  Marsay,  "lives  apart  from  her. 
He  stays  with  his  regiment  and  practices  economy,  for  he  has 
one  or  two  little  debts  of  his  own  as  well,  has  our  dear  duke. 
Where  do  you  come  from  ?  Just  learn  to  do  as  we  do  and 
keep  our  friends'  accounts  for  them.  Mademoiselle  Diane  (I 
fell  in  love  with  her  for  the  name's  sake),  Mademoiselle  Diane 
d'Uxelles  brought  her  husband  sixty  thousand  livres  of  in- 
come ;  for  the  last  eight  years  she  has  lived  as  if  she  had  two 
hundred  thousand.  It  is  perfectly  plain  that  at  this  moment 
her  lands  are  mortgaged  up  to  their  full  value  ;  some  fine 
morning  the  crash  must  come,  and  the  angel  will  be  put  to 
flight  by — must  it  be  said  ? — by  sheriff's  officers  that  have  the 
effrontery  to  lay  hands  on  an  angel  just  as  they  might  take 
hold  of  one  of  us." 

"Poor  angel!" 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        223 

"  Lord  !  it  costs  a  great  deal  to  dwell  in  a  Parisian  heaven  ; 
you  must  whiten  your  wings  and  your  complexion  every 
morning,"  said  Rastignac. 

Now  as  the  thought  of  confessing  his  debts  to  his  beloved 
Diane  had  passed  through  d'Esgrignon's  mind,  something  like 
a  shudder  ran  through  him  when  he  remembered  that  he  still 
owed  sixty  thousand  francs,  to  say  nothing  of  bills  to  come 
for  another  ten  thousand.  He  went  back  melancholy  enough. 
His  friends  remarked  his  ill-disguised  preoccupation,  and 
spoke  of  it  among  themselves  at  dinner. 

"  Young  d'Esgrignon  is  getting  out  of  his  depth.  He  is 
not  up  to  Paris.  He  will  blow  his  brains  out.  A  little  fool !" 
and  so  on  and  so  on. 

D'Esgrignon,  however,  promptly  took  comfort.  His  ser- 
vant brought  him  two  letters.  The  first  was  from  Chesnel. 
A  letter  from  Chesnel  smacked  of  the  stale  grumbling  faithful- 
ness of  honesty  and  its  consecrated  formulas.  With  all  respect 
he  put  it  aside  till  the  evening.  But  the  second  letter  he  read 
with  unspeakable  pleasure.  In  Ciceronian  phrases,  du  Croisier 
groveled  before  him,  like  a  Sganarelle  before  a  Geronte,  beg- 
ging the  young  count  in  future  to  spare  him  the  affront  of 
first  depositing  the  amount  of  the  bills  which  he  should  con- 
descend to  draw.  The  concluding  phrase  seemed  meant  to 
convey  the  idea  that  here  was  an  open  cash-box  full  of  coin 
at  the  service  of  the  noble  d'Esgrignon  family.  So  strong 
was  the  impression  that  Victurnien,  like  Sganarelle  or  Mas- 
carille  in  the  play,  like  everybody  else  who  feels  a  twinge  of 
conscience  at  his  finger-tips,  made  an  involuntary  gesture. 

Now  that  he  was  sure  of  unlimited  credit  with  the  Kellers, 
he  opened  Chesnel's  letter  gaily.  He  had  expected  four  full 
pages,  full  of  expostulation  to  the  brim ;  he  glanced  down  the 
sheet  for  the  familiar  words  "prudence,"  "honor,"  "deter- 
mination to  do  right,"  and  the  like,  and  saw  something  else 
instead  which  made  his  head  swim. 


224         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"  MONSIEUR  LE  COMTE  : — Of  all  my  fortune  I  have  now  but 
two  hundred  thousand  francs  left.  I  beg  of  you  not  to  exceed 
that  amount,  if  you  should  do  one  of  the  most  devoted  ser- 
vants of  your  family  the  honor  of  taking  it.  I  present  my 
respects  to  you.  CHESNEL." 

"  He  is  one  of  Plutarch's  men,"  Victurnien  said  to  himself, 
as  he  tossed  the  letter  on  the  table.  He  felt  chagrined  ;  such 
magnanimity  made  him  feel  very  small. 

"There!  one  must  reform,"  he  thought;  and  instead  of 
going  to  a  restaurant  and  spending  fifty  or  sixty  francs  over 
his  .dinner,  he  retrenched  by  dining  with  the  Duchesse  de 
Maufrigneuse,  and  told  her  about  the  letter. 

"I  should  like  to  see  that  man,"  she  said,  letting  her  eyes 
shine  like  two  fixed  stars. 

"What  would  you  do?" 

"Why,  he  should  manage  my  affairs  for  me." 

Diane  de  Maufrigneuse  was  divinely  dressed  ;  she  meant 
her  toilet  to  do  honor  to  Victurnien.  The  levity  with  which 
she  treated  his  affairs,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  his  debts, 
fascinated  him. 

The  charming  pair  went  to  the  Italiens.  Never  had  that 
beautiful  and  enchanting  woman  looked  more  seraphic,  more 
ethereal.  Nobody  in  the  house  could  have  believed  that  she 
had  debts  which  reached  the  sum-total  mentioned  by  de 
Marsay  that  very  morning.  No  single  one  of  the  cares  of 
earth  had  touched  that  sublime  forehead  of  hers,  full  of 
woman's  pride  of  the  highest  kind.  In  her,  a  pensive  air 
seemed  to  be  some  gleam  of  an  earthly  love,  nobly  extin- 
guished. The  men  for  the  most  part  were  wagering  that 
Victurnien,  with  his  handsome  figure,  laid  her  under  contri- 
bution ;  while  the  women,  sure  of  their  rival's  subterfuge, 
admired  her  as  Michael  Angelo  admired  Raphael,  in  petto. 
Victurnien  loved  Diane,  according  to  one  of  these  ladies,  for 
the  sake  of  her  hair — she  had  the  most  beautiful  fair  hair  in 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        225 

France ;  another  maintained  that  Diane's  pallor  was  her  prin- 
cipal merit,  for  she  was  not  really  well  shaped,  her  dress  made 
the  most  of  her  figure ;  yet  others  thought  that  Victurnien 
loved  her  for  her  foot,  her  one  good  point,  for  she  had  a  flat 
figure.  But  (and  this  brings  the  present-day  manner  of  Paris 
before  you  in  an  astonishing  manner)  whereas  all  the  men 
said  that  the  duchess  was  subsidizing  Victurnien's  splendor, 
the  women,  on  the  other  hand,  gave  people  to  understand 
that  it  was  Victurnien  who  paid  for  the  angel's  wing-bills, 
as  Rastignac  said. 

As  they  drove  back  again,  Victurnien  had  it  on  the  tip  of 
his  tongue  a  score  of  times  to  open  this  chapter,  for  the 
duchess'  debts  weighed  more  heavily  upon  his  mind  than  his 
own  ;  and  a  score  of  times  his  purpose  died  away  before  the 
attitude  of  the  divine  creature  beside  him.  He  could  see  her 
by  the  light  of  the  carriage  lamps ;  she  was  bewitching  in  the 
love-languor  which  always  seemed  to  be  extorted  by  the 
violence  of  passion  from  her  madonna's  purity.  The  duchess 
did  not  fall  into  the  mistake  of  talking  of  her  virtue,  of  her 
angel's  estate,  as  provincial  women,  her  imitators,  do.  She 
was  far  too  clever.  She  made  him,  for  whom  she  made  such 
great  sacrifices,  think  these  things  for  himself.  At  the  end 
of  six  months  she  could  make  him  feel  that  a  harmless  kiss  on 
her  hand  was  a  deadly  sin ;  she  contrived  that  every  grace 
should  be  extorted  from  her,  and  this  with  such  consummate 
art  that  it  was  impossible  not  to  feel  that  she  was  more  an 
angel  than  ever  when  she  yielded. 

None  but  Parisian  women  are  clever  enough  always  to  give 
a  new  charm  to  the  moon,  to  romanticize  the  stars,  to  roll 
in  the  same  sack  of  charcoal  and  emerge  each  time  whiter  than 
ever.  This  is  the  highest  refinement  of  intellectual  and 
Parisian  civilization.  Women  beyond  the  Rhine  or  the 
English  Channel  believe  nonsense  of  this  sort  when  they  utter 
it ;  while  your  Parisienne  makes  her  lover  believe  that  she  is 
an  angel,  the  better  to  add  to  his  bliss  by  flattering  his«vanity 
15 


226         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

on  both  sides — temporal  and  spiritual.  Certain  persons,  de- 
tractors of  the  duchess,  maintain  that  she  was  the  first  dupe 
of  her  own  white  magic.  A  wicked  slander.  The  duchess 
believed  in  nothing  but  herself. 

By  the  end  of  the  year  1823,  the  Kellers  had  supplied  Vic- 
turnien  with  two  hundred  thousand  francs,- and  neither  Chesnel 
nor  Mile.  Armande  knew  anything  about  it.  He  had  had, 
beside,  two  thousand  crowns  from  Chesnel  at  one  time  and 
another,  the  better  to  hide  the  sources  on  which  he  was  draw- 
ing. He  wrote  lying  letters  to  his  poor  father  and  aunt,  who 
lived  on,  happy  and  deceived,  like  most  happy  people  under 
the  sun.  The  insidious  current  of  life  in  Paris  was  bringing 
a  dreadful  catastrophe  upon  the  great  and  noble  house ;  and 
only  one  person  was  in  the  secret  of  it.  This  was  du  Croisier. 
He  rubbed  his  hands  gleefully  as  he  went  past  in  the  dark 
and  looked  in  at  the  Antiquities.  He  had  good  hope  of 
attaining  his  ends ;  and  his  ends  were  not,  as  heretofore,  the 
simple  ruin  of  the  d'Esgrignons,  but  the  dishonor  of  their 
house.  He  felt  instinctively  at  such  times  that  his  revenge 
was  at  hand  ;  he  scented  it  in  the  wind  !  He  had  been  sure 
of  it,  indeed,  from  the  day  when  he  discovered  that  the  young 
count's  burden  of  debt  was  growing  too  heavy  for  the  boy  to 
bear. 

Du  Croisier's  first  step  was  to  rid  himself  of  his  most  hated 
enemy,  the  venerable  Chesnel.  The  good  old  man  lived  in 
the  Rue  du  Bercail,  in  a  house  with  a  steep-pitched  roof. 
There  was  a  little  paved  courtyard  in  front,  where  the  rose- 
bushes grew  and  clambered  up  to  the  windows  of  the  upper 
story.  Behind  lay  a  little  country  garden,  with  its  box-edged 
borders,  shut  in  by  damp,  gloomy-looking  walls.  The  prim, 
gray-painted  street  door,  with  its  wicket  opening  and  bell 
attached,  announced  quite  as  plainly  as  the  official  escutcheon 
that  "  a  notary  lives  here." 

It  was  half-past  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  at  which  hour 
the  old  man  usually  sat  digesting  his  dinner.  He  had  drawn 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        227 

his  black  leather-covered  armchair  before  the  fire,  and  put  on 
his  armor,  a  painted  pasteboard  contrivance' shaped  like  a  top 
boot,  which  protected  his  stockinged  legs  from  the  heat  of  the 
fire ;  for  it  was  one  of  the  good  man's  habits  to  sit  for  a  while 
after  dinner  with  his  feet  on  the  dogs  and  to  stir  up  the  glow- 
ing coals.  He  always  ate  too  much ;  he  was  fond  of  good 
living.  Alas  !  if  it  had  not  been  for  that  little  failing,  would 
he  not  have  been  fnore  perfect  than  it  is  permitted  to  mortal 
man  to  be  ?  Chesnel  had  finished  his  cup  of  coffee.  His  old 
housekeeper  had  just  taken  away  the  tray  which  had  been  used 
for  this  purpose  for  the  last  twenty  years.  He  was  waiting  for 
his  clerks  to  go  before  he  himself  went  out  for  his  game  at 
cards,  and  meanwhile  he  was  thinking — no  need  to  ask  of 
whom  or  what.  A  day  seldom  passed  but  he  asked  himself: 
"Where  is  he?  What  is  he  doing?"  He  thought  that  the 
count  was  in  Italy  with  the  fair  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse. 

When  every  franc  of  a  man's  fortune  has  come  to  him,  not 
by  inheritance,  but  through  his  own  earning  and  saving,  it  is 
one  of  his  sweetest  pleasures  to  look  back  upon  the  pains  that 
have  gone  to  the  making  of  it,  and  then  to  plan  out  a  future 
for  his  crowns.  This  it  is  to  conjugate  the  verb  "  to  enjoy" 
"in  every  tense.  And  the  old  lawyer,  whose  affections  were 
all  bound  up  in  a  single  attachment,  was  thinking  that  all  the 
carefully  chosen,  well-tilled  land  which  he  had  pinched  and 
scraped  to  buy  would  one  day  go  to  round  out  the  d'Esgrignon 
estates,  and  the  thought  doubled  his  pleasure.  His  pride 
swelled  as  he  sat  at  his  ease  in  the  old  armchair;  and  the 
building  of  glowing  coals,  which  he  raised  'with  the  tongs, 
sometimes  seemed  to  him  to  be  the  old  noble  house  built  up 
again,  thanks  to  his  care.  He  pictured  the  young  count's 
prosperity,  and  told  himself  that  he  had  done  well  to  live  for 
such  an  aim.  Chesnel  was  not  lacking  in  intelligence ;  sheer 
goodness  was  not  the  sole  source  of  his  great  devotion ;  he 
had  a  pride  of  his  own  ;  he  was  like  the  nobles  who  used  to 
rebuild  a  pillar  in  a  cathedral  to  inscribe  their  name  upon  it ; 


228         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

he  meant  his  name  to  be  remembered  by  the  great  house  which 
he  had  restored.  Future  generations  of  d'Esgrignons  should 
speak  of  old  Chesnel.  Just  at  this  point  his  old  housekeeper 
came  in  with  signs  of  extreme  alarm  in  her  countenance. 

"Is  the  house  on  fire,  Brigitte?" 

"  Something  of  the  sort,"  said  she.  "  Here  is  Monsieur  du 
Croisier  wanting  to  speak  to  you " 

"  Monsieur  du  Croisier,"  repeated  the  old  lawyer.  A  stab 
of  cold  misgiving  gave  him  so  sharp  a  pang  at  the  heart  that 
he  dropped  the  tongs.  "Monsieur  du  Croisier  here!" 
thought  he,  "  our  chief  enemy  !  " 

Du  Croisier  came  in  at  that  moment,  like  a  cat  that  scents 
milk  in  a  dairy.  He  made  a  bow,  seated  himself  quietly  in 
the  easy-chair  which  the  lawyer  brought  forward,  and  produced 
a  bill  for  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  thousand  francs,  prin- 
cipal and  interest,  the  total  amount  of  sums  advanced  to  M. 
Victurnien  in  bills  of  exchange  drawn  upon  du  Croisier,  and 
duly  honored  by  him.  Of  these,  he  now  demanded  imme- 
diate repayment,  with  a  threat  of  proceeding  to  extremities  with 
the  heir-presumptive  of  the  house.  Chesnel  turned  the  un- 
lucky letters  over  one  by  one,  and  asked  the  enemy  to  keep 
the  secret.  This  he  engaged  to  do  if  he  were  paid  within 
forty-eight  hours.  He  was  pressed  for  money ;  he  had  obliged 
various  manufacturers;  and  there  followed  a  series  of  the 
financial  fictions  by  which  neither  notaries  nor  borrowers  are 
deceived.  Chesnel's  eyes  were  dim ;  he  could  scarcely  keep 
back  the  tears.  There  was  but  one  way  of  raising  the  money ; 
he  must  mortgage  his  own  lands  up  to  their  full  value.  But 
when  du  Croisier  learned  the  difficulty  in  the  way  of  repay- 
ment, he  forgot  that  he  was  hard  pressed  ;  he  no  longer  wanted 
ready  money,  and  suddenly  came  out  with  a  proposal  to  buy 
the  old  lawyer's  property.  The  sale  was  completed  within 
two  days.  Poor  Chesnel  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  the 
son  of  the  house  undergoing  a  five  years'  imprisonment  for 
debt.  So  in  a  few  days'  time  nothing  remained  to  him  but 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        229 

his  practice,  the  sums  that  were  due  to  him,  and  the  house  in 
which  he  lived.  Chesnel,  stripped  of  all  his  lands,  paced  to 
and  fro  in  his  private  office,  paneled  with  dark  oak,  his  eyes 
fixed  on  the  beveled  edges  of  the  chestnut  cross-beams  of  the 
ceiling,  or  on  the  trellised  vines  in  the  garden  outside.  He 
was  not  thinking  of  his  farms  now,  nor  of  Le  Jard,  his  dear 
house  in  the  country  ;  not  he. 

"  What  will  become  of  him  ?  He  ought  to  come  back ; 
they  must  marry  him  to  some  rich  heiress,"  he  said  to  himself; 
and  his  eyes  were  dim,  his  head  heavy. 

How  to  approach  Mile.  Armande,  and  in  what  words  to 
break  the  news  to  her,  he  did  not  know.  The  man  who  had 
just  paid  the  debts  of  the  family  quaked  at  the  thought  of  con- 
fessing these  things.  He  went  from  the  Rue  du  Bercail  to  the 
Hotel  d'Esgrignon  with  pulses  throbbing  like  some  girl's  heart 
when  she  leaves  her  father's  roof  by  stealth,  not  to  return 
again  till  she  is  a  mother  and  her  heart  is  broken. 

Mile.  Armande  had  just  received  a  charming  letter,  charm- 
ing in  its  hypocrisy.  Her  nephew  was  the  happiest  man  under 
the  sun.  He  had  been  to  the  baths,  he  had  been  traveling  in 
Italy  with  Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse,  and  now  sent  his  journal  to 
his  aunt.  Every  sentence  was  instinct  with  love.  There  were 
enchanting  descriptions  of  Venice  and  fascinating  apprecia- 
tions of  the  great  works  of  Venetian  art ;  there  were  most 
wonderful  pages  full  of  the  Duomo  at  Milan,  and  again  of 
Florence ;  he  described  the  Apennines,  and  how  they  differed 
from  the  Alps,  and  how  in  some  village  like  Chiavari  happi- 
ness lay  all  around  you,  ready  made. 

The  poor  aunt  was  under  the  spell.  She  saw  the  far-off 
country  of  love ;  she  saw,  hovering  above  the  land,  the  angel 
whose  tenderness  gave  to  all  that  beauty  a  burning  glow.  She 
was  drinking  in  the  letter  at  long  draughts ;  how  should  it  have 
been  otherwise  !  The  girl  who  had  put  love  from  her  was 
now  a  woman  ripened  by  repressed  and  pent-up  passion,  by  all 
the  longings  continually  and  gladly  offered  up  as  a  sacrifice  on 


230         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

the  altar  of  the  hearth.  Mile.  Armande  was  not  like  the 
duchess.  She  did  not  look  like  an  angel.  She  was  rather 
like  the  little,  straight,  slim  and  slender,  ivory-tinted  statues, 
which  those  wonderful  sculptors,  the  builders  of  cathedrals, 
placed  here  and  thereabout  the  buildings.  Wild  plants  some- 
times  find  a  hold  in  the  damp  niches,  and  weave  a  crown  of 
beautiful  bluebell  flowers  about  the  carved  stone.  At  this 
moment  the  blue  buds  were  unfolding  in  the  fair  saint's  eyes. 
Mile.  Armande  loved  the  charming  couple  as  if  they  stood 
apart  from  real  life ;  she  saw  nothing  wrong  in  the  married 
woman's  love  for  Victurnieh ;  any  other  woman  she  would 
have  judged  harshly ;  but,  in  this  case,  not  to  have  loved  her 
nephew  would  have  been  the  unpardonable  sin.  Aunts, 
mothers,  and  sisters  have  a  code  of  their  own  for  nephews  and 
sons  and  brothers. 

Mile.  Armande  was  in  Venice ;  she  saw  the  lines  of  fairy 
palaces  that  stand  on  either  side  of  the  Grand  Canal ;  she  was 
sitting  in  Victurnien's  gondola;  he  was  telling  her  what  hap- 
piness it  had  been  to  feel  that  the  duchess'  beautiful  hand  lay 
in  his  own,  to  know  that  she  loved  him  as  they  floated  together 
on  the  breast  of  the  amorous  Queen  of  Italian  seas.  But  even 
in  that  moment  of  bliss,  such  as  angels  know,  some  one  ap- 
peared on  the  garden  walk.  It  was  Chesnel !  Alas  !  the 
sound  of  his  tread  on  the  gravel  might  have  been  the  sound  of 
the  sands  running  from  Death's  hour-glass  to  be  trodden  under 
his  unshod  feet.  The  sound,  the  sight  of  a  dreadful  hopeless- 
ness in  Chesnel's  face,  gave  her  that  painful  shock  which  fol- 
lows a  sudden  recall  of  the  senses  when  the  soul  has  sent  them 
forth  into  the  world  of  dreams. 

"What  is  it?"  she  cried,  as  if  some  stab  had  pierced  to 
her  heart. 

"All  is  lost!"  said  Chesnel.  "Monsieur  le  Comte  will 
bring  dishonor  upon  the  house  if  we  do  not  set  it  in  order." 
He  held  out  the  bills,  and  described  the  agony  of  the  last  few 
days  in  a  few  simple  but  vigorous  and  touching  words. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        231 

"  He  is  deceiving  us  !  The  miserable  boy  !  "  cried  Mile. 
Armande,  her  heart  swelling  as  the  blood  surged  back  to  it  in 
heavy  throbs. 

"  Let  us  each  say  mea  culpa,*  mademoiselle,"  the  old  lawyer 
said  stoutly ;  "  we  have  always  allowed  him  to  have  his  own 
way ;  he  needed  stern  guidance  ;  he  could  not  have  it  from 
you  with  your  inexperience  of  life ;  nor  from  me,  for  he  would 
not  listen  to  me.  He  has  had  no  mother.'! 

"  Fate  sometimes  deals  terribly  with  a  noble  house  in  de- 
cay," said  Mile.  Armande,  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

The  marquis  came  up  as  she  spoke.  He  had  been  walking 
up  and  down  the  garden  while  he  read  the  letter  sent  by  his 
son  after  his  return.  Victurnien  gave  his  itinerary  from  an 
aristocrat's  point  of  view ;  telling  how  he  had  been  welcomed 
by  the  greatest  Italian  families  of  Genoa,  Turin,  Milan,  Flor- 
ence, Venice,  Rome,  and  Naples.  This  flattering  reception 
he  owed  to  his  name,  he  said,  and  partly,  perhaps,  to  the 
duchess  as  well.  In  short,  he  had  made  his  appearance  mag- 
nificently and  as  befitted  a  d'Esgrignon. 

"  Have  you  been  at  your  old  tricks,  Chesnel?"  asked  the 
marquis. 

Mile.  Armande  made  Chesnel  an  eager  sign,  dreadful  to 
see.  They  understood  each  other.  The  poor  father,  the 
flower  of  feudal  honor,  must  die  with  all  his  illusions.  A 
compact  of  silence  and  devotion  was  ratified  between  the  two 
noble  hearts  by  a  simple  inclination  of  the  head. 

"Ah!  Chesnel,  it  was  not  exactly  in  this  way  that  the 
d'Esgrignons  went  into  Italy  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  when  Marshal  Trivulzio,  in  the  service  of  the  King 
of  France,  served  under  a  d'Esgrignon,  who  had  a  Bayard  too 
under  his  orders.  Other  times,  other  pleasures.  And,  for 
that  matter,  the  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse  is  at  least  the  equal 
of  a  Marchesa  di  Spinola." 

And,  on  the  strength  of  his  genealogical  tree,  the  old  man 
*  I  am  the  culprit. 


232         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

swung  himself  off  with  a  coxcomb's  air,  as  if  he  himself  had 
once  made  a  conquest  of  the  Marchesa  di  Spinola,  and  still 
possessed  the  duchess  of  to-day. 

The  two  companions  in  unhappiness  were  left  together  on 
the  garden  bench,  with  the  same  thought  for  a  bond  of  union. 
They  sat  for  a  long  time,  saying  little  save  vague,  unmeaning 
words,  watching  the  father  walk  away  in  his  happiness,  ges- 
ticulating as  if  he  were  talking  to  himself. 

"What  will  become  of  him  now?"  Mile.  Armande  asked 
after  a  while. 

"  Du  Croisier  has  sent  instructions  to  the  Kellers;  he  is 
not  to  be  allowed  to  draw  any  more  without  authorization." 

"And  there  are  debts?"  continued  Mile.  Armande. 

"I  am  afraid  so." 

"  If  he  is  left  without  resources,  what  will  he  do  ?  " 

"  I  dare  not  answer  that  question  to  myself." 

"  But  he  must  be  drawn  out  of  that  life,  he  must  come  back 
to  us,  or  he  will  have  nothing  left." 

"And  nothing  else  left  to  him,"  Chesnel  said  gloomily. 
But  Mile.  Armande  as  yet  did  not  and  could  not  understand 
the  full  force  of  those  words. 

"  Is  there  any  hope  of  getting  him  away  from  that  woman, 
that  duchess?  Perhaps  she  leads  him  on." 

"  He  would  not  stick  at  a  crime  to  be  with  her,"  said 
Chesnel,  trying  to  pave  the  way  to  an  intolerable  thought  by 
others  less  intolerable. 

"Crime,"  repeated  Mile.  Armande.  "Oh,  Chesnel,  no 
one  but  you  would  think  of  such  a  thing !  "  she  added,  with 
a  withering  look ;  before  such  a  look  from  a  woman's  eyes 
no  mortal  can  stand.  "  There  is  but  one  crime  that  a  noble 
can  commit — the  crime  of  high  treason ;  and  when  he  is  be- 
headed, the  block  is  covered  with  a  black  cloth,  as  it  is  for 
kings." 

"The  times  have  changed  very  much,"  said  Chesnel, 
shaking  his  head.  Victurnien  had  thinned  his  last  thin,  white 


THE  JEALOUSIES   Of  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        233 

hairs.  "  Our  Martyr-King  did  not  die  like  the  English  King 
Charles." 

That  thought  soothed  Mile.  Armande's  splendid  indignation ; 
a  shudder  ran  through  her ;  but  still  she  did  not  realize  what 
Chesnel  meant. 

"To-morrow  we  will  decide  what  we  must  do,"  she  said; 
"  it  needs  thought.  At  the  worst,  we  have  our  lands." 

"Yes,"  said  Chesnel.  "You  and  Monsieur  le  Marquis 
own  the  estate  conjointly ;  but  the  larger  part  of  it  is  yours. 
You  can  raise  money  upon  it  without  saying  a  word  to  him." 

The  players  at  whist,  reversis,  boston,  and  backgammon 
noticed  that  evening  that  Mile.  Armande's  features,  usually  so 
serene  and  pure,  showed  signs  of  agitation. 

"That  poor  heroic  child!"  said  the  old  Marquise  de 
Casteran,  "she  must  be  suffering  still.  A  woman  never 
knows  what  her  sacrifices  to  her  family  may  cost  her." 

Next  day  it  was  arranged  with  Chesnel  that  Mile.  Armande 
should  go  to  Paris  to  snatch  her  nephew  from  perdition.  If 
any  one  could  carry  off  Victurnien,  was  it  not  the  woman 
whose  mother's  heart  yearned  over  him  ?  Mile.  Armande 
made  up  her  mind  that  she  would  go  to  the  Duchesse  de 
Maufrigneuse  and  tell  her  all.  Still,  some  sort  of  pretext  was 
necessary  to  explain  the  journey  to  the  marquis  and  the  whole 
town.  At  some  cost  to  her  maidenly  delicacy,  Mile.  Armande 
allowed  it  to  be  thought  that  she  was  suffering  from  a  com- 
plaint which  called  for  a  consultation  of  skilled  and  celebrated 
physicians.  Goodness  knows  whether  the  town  talked  of  this 
or  not !  But  Mile.  Armande  saw  that  something  far  more  to 
her  than  her  own  reputation  was  at  stake.  She  set  out. 
Chesnel  brought  her  his  last  bag  of  louis ;  she  took  it,  without 
paying  any  attention  to  it,  as  she  took  her  white  capuchine 
and  thread  mittens. 

"  Generous  girl  !  What  grace !  "  he  said,  as  he  put  her 
into  the  carriage  with  her  maid,  a  woman  who  looked  like  a 
gray  sister. 


234         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Du  Croisier  had  thought  out  his  revenge,  as  provincials 
think  out  everything.  For  studying  out  a  question  in  all  its 
bearings,  there  are  no  people  in  this  world  like  savages,  peas- 
ants, and  provincials ;  and  this  is  how,  when  they  proceed 
from  thought  to  action,  you  find  every  contingency  provided 
for  from  beginning  to  end.  Diplomatists  are  children  com- 
pared with  these  classes  of  mammals ;  they  have  time  before 
them,  an  element  which  is  lacking  to  those  people  who  are 
obliged  to  think  about  a  great  many  things,  to  superintend 
the  progress  of  all  kinds  of  schemes,  to  look  forward  for  all 
sorts  of  contingencies  in  the  wider  interests  of  human  affairs. 
Had  du  Croisier  sounded  poor  Victurnien's  nature  so  well 
that  he  foresaw  how  easily  the  youmg  count  would  lend  him- 
self to  his  schemes  of  revenge  ?  Or  was  he  merely  profiting  by 
an  opportunity  for  which  he  had  been  on  the  watch  for  years? 
One  circumstance  there  was,  to  be  sure,  in  his  manner  of  pre- 
paring his  stroke,  which  shows  a  certain  skill.  Who  was  it 
that  gave  du  Croisier  warning  of  the  moment?  Was  it  the 
Kellers?  Or  could  it  have  been  President  du  Ronceret's  son, 
then  finishing  his  law  studies  in  Paris  ? 

Du  Croisier  wrote  to  Victurnien,  telling  him  that  the  Kellers 
had  been  instructed  to  advance  no  more  money ;  and  that 
letter  was  timed  to  arrive  just  as  the  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse 
was  in  the  utmost  perplexity,  and  the  Comte  d'Esgrignon 
consumed  by  the  sense  of  a  poverty  as  dreadful  as  it  was  cun- 
ningly hidden.  The  wretched  young  man  was  exerting  all 
his  ingenuity  to  seem  as  if  he  were  wealthy  ! 

Now  in  the  letter  which  informed  the  victim  that  in  future 
the  Kellers  would  make  no  further  advances  without  security, 
there  was  a  tolerably  wide  space  left  between  the  forms  of  an 
exaggerated  respect  and  the  signature.  It  was  quite  easy  to 
tear  off  the  best  part  of  the  letter  and  convert  it  into  a  bill  of 
exchange  for  any  amount.  The  diabolical  missive  had  even 
been  inclosed  in  an  envelope,  so  that  the  other  side  of  the 
sheet  was  blank.  When  it  arrived,  Victurnien  was  writhing 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A   COUNTRY  TOWN.        235 

in  the  lowest  depths  of  despair.  After  two  years  of  the  most 
prosperous,  sensual,  thoughtless,  and  luxurious  life,  he  found 
himself  face  to  face  with  the  most  inexorable  poverty ;  it  was 
an  absolute  impossibility  to  procure  money.  There  had  been 
some  throes  of  crisis  before  the  journey  came  to  an  end. 
With  the  duchess'  help  he  had  managed  to  extort  various  sums 
from  bankers;  but  it  had  been  with  the  greatest  difficulty, 
and,  moreover,  those  very  amounts  were  about  to  start  up 
again  before  him  as  overdue  bills  of  exchange  in  all  their  rigor, 
with  a  stern  summons  to  pay  from  the  Bank  of  France  and 
the  commercial  court.  All  through  the  enjoyments  of  those 
last  weeks  the  unhappy  boy  had  felt  the  point  of  the  com- 
mander's sword;  at  every  supper-party  he  heard,  like  Don 
Juan,  the  heavy  tread  of  the  statue  outside  upon  the  stairs. 
He  felt  an  unaccountable  creeping  of  the  flesh,  a  warning  that 
the  sirocco  of  debt  is  nigh  at  hand.  He  reckoned  on  chance. 
For  five  years  he  had  never  turned  up  a  blank  in  the  lottery ; 
his  purse  had  always  been  replenished.  After  Chesnel  had 
come  du  Croisier  (he  told  himself) ;  after  du  Crosier  surely 
another  gold  mine  would  pour  out  its  wealth.  And  beside, 
he  was  winning  great  sums  at  play ;  his  luck  at  play  had  saved 
him  several  unpleasant  steps  already ;  and  often  a  wild  hope 
sent  him  to  the  Salon  des  Etrangers  only  to  lose  his  winnings 
afterward  at  whist  at  the  club.  His  life  for  the  past  two 
months  had  been  like  the  immortal  finale  of  Mozart's  "  Don 
Giovanni ;  "  and  of  a  truth,  if  a  young  man  has  come  to  such 
a  plight  as  Victurnien's,  that  finale  is  enough  to  make  him 
shudder.  Can  anything  better  prove  the  enormous  power  of 
music  than  that  sublime  rendering  of  the  disorder  and  con- 
fusion arising  out  of  a  life  wholly  given  up  to  sensual  indul- 
gence ?  that  fearful  picture  of  a  deliberate  effort  to  shut  out 
the  thought  of  debts  and  duels,  deceit  and  evil  luck  ?  In  that 
music  Mozart  disputes  the  palm  with  Moliere.  The  terrific 
finale,  with  its  glow,  its  power,  its  despair  and  laughter,  its 
grisly  spectres  and  elfish  women,  centres  about  the  prodigal's 


236         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

last  effort  made  in  the  after-supper  heat  of  wine,  the  frantic 
struggle  which  ends  the  drama.  Victurnien  was  living  through 
this  infernal  poem,  and  alone.  He  saw  visions  of  himself — a 
friendless,  solitary  outcast,  reading  the  words  carved  on  the 
stone,  the  last  words  on  the  last  page  of  the  book  that  had 
held  him  spellbound — THE  END  ! 

Yes;  for  him  all  would  be  at  an  end,  and  that  soon.  Al- 
ready he  saw  the  cold,  ironical  eyes  which  his  associates  would 
turn  upon  him,  and  their  amusement  over  his  downfall.  Some 
of  them  he  knew  were  playing  high  on  that  gambling-table 
kept  open  all  day  long  at  the  Bourse,  or  in  private  houses,  at 
the  clubs,  and  anywhere  and  everywhere  in  Paris ;  but  not 
one  of  these  men  could  spare  a  banknote  to  save  an  intimate. 
There  was  no  help  for  it — Chesnel  must  be  ruined.  He  had 
devoured  Chesnel' s  living. 

He  sat  with  the  duchess  in  their  box  at  the  Italiens,  the  whole 
house  envying  them  their  happiness ;  and  while  he  smiled  at  her, 
all  the  Furies  were  tearing  at  his  heart.  Indeed,  to  give  some 
idea  of  the  depths  of  doubt,  despair,  and  incredulity  in  which 
the  boy  was  groveling;  he  who  so  clung  to  life — the  life 
which  the  angel  had  made  so  fair — who  so  loved  it  that  he 
would  have  stooped  to  baseness  merely  to  live ;  he,  the  pleas- 
ure-loving scapegrace,  the  degenerate  d'Esgrignon,  had  even 
taken  out  his  pistols,  had  gone  so  far  as  to  think  of  suicide.  He 
who  would  never  have  brooked  the  appearance  of  an  insult 
was  abusing  himself  in  language  which  no  man  is  likely  to 
hear  except  from  himself. 

He  left  du  Croisier's  letter  laying  open  on  the  bed. 
Josephin  had  brought  it  in  at  nine  o'clock.  Victurnien's 
furniture  had  been  seized,  but  he  slept  none  the  less.  After 
he  came  back  from  the  opera,  he  and  the  duchess  had  gone  to 
a  voluptuous  retreat,  where  they  often  spent  a  few  hours  to- 
gether after  the  most  brilliant  court  balls  and  evening  parties 
and  gayeties.  Appearances  were  very  cleverly  saved.  Their 
love-nest  was  a  garret  like  any  other  to  all  appearance  ;  Mme, 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        237 

de  Maufrigneuse  was  obliged  to  bow  her  head  with  its  court 
feathers  or  the  wreath  of  flowers  to  enter  the  doorway ;  but 
within  all  the  peris  of  the  East  had  made  the  chamber  fair. 
And  now  that  the  count  was  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  he  had 
longed  to  bid  farewell  to  the  dainty  nest,  which  he  had  built 
to  realize  a  day-dream  worthy  of  his  angel.  Presently  adver- 
sity would  break  the  enchanted  eggs;  there  would  be  no 
brood  of  white  doves,  no  brilliant  tropical  birds,  no  more  of 
the  thousand  bright-winged  fancies  which  hover  above  our 
heads  even  to  the  last  days  of  our  lives.  Alas  !  alas  !  jn  three 
days  he  must  be  gone ;  his  bills  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  money-lenders,  the  law  proceedings  had  reached  the  last 
stage. 

An  evil  thought  crossed  his  brain.  He  would  fly  with  the 
duchess  ;  they  would  live  in  some  undiscovered  nook  in  the 
wilds  of  North  or  South  America ;  but — he  would  fly  with  a 
fortune,  and  leave  his  creditors  to  confront  their  bills.  To 
carry  out  the  plan,  he  had  only  to  cut  off  the  lower  portion 
of  that  letter  with  du  Croisier's  signature,  and  to  fill  in  the 
figures  to  turn  it  into  a  bill,  and  present  it  to  the  Kellers. 
There  was  a  dreadful  struggle  with  temptation ;  tears  were 
shed,  but  the  honor  of  the  family  triumphed,  subject  to  one 
condition.  Victurnien  wanted  to  be  sure  of  his  beautiful 
Diane ;  he  would  do  nothing  unless  she  should  consent  to 
their  flight.  So  he  went  to  the  duchess  in  the  Rue  Faubourg 
Saint -Honors,  and  found  her  in  coquettish  morning  dress, 
which  cost  as  much  in  thought  as  in  money,  a  fit  dress  in 
which  to  begin  to  play  the  part  of  Angel  at  eleven  o'clock  in 
the  morning. 

Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse  was  somewhat  pensive.  Cares  of  a 
similar  kind  were  gnawing  her  mind;  but  she  took  them 
gallantly.  Of  all  the  various  feminine  organizations  classified 
by  physiologists,  there  is  one  that  has  something  indescribably 
terrible  about  it.  Such  women  combine  strength  of  soul  and 
clear  insight,  with  a  faculty  for  prompt  decision,  and  a  reck- 


238         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

lessness,  or  rather  resolution,  in  a  crisis  which  would  shake  a 
man's  nerves.  And  these  powers  lie  out  of  sight  beneath  an 
appearance  of  the  most  graceful  helplessness.  Such  women 
only  among  womankind  afford  examples  of  a  phenomenon  which 
Buffon  recognized  in  men  alone,  to  wit,  the  union,  or  rather 
the  disunion,  of  two  different  natures  in  one  human  being. 
Other  women  are  wholly  women  ;  wholly  tender,  wholly  de- 
voted, wholly  mothers,  completely  null  and  completely  tire- 
some; nerves  and  brain  and  blood  are  all  in  harmony; 
but  the  duchess,  and  others  like  her,  are  capable  of  rising 
to  the  highest  heights  of  feeling,  or  of  showing  the  most 
selfish  insensibility.  It  is  one  of  the  glories  of  Moliere  that 
he  has  given  us  a  wonderful  portrait  of  such  a  woman,  from 
one  point  of  view  only,  in  that  greatest  of  his  full-length 
figures — Celimene;  Celimene  is  the  typical  aristocratic 
woman,  as  Figaro,  the  second  edition  of  Panurge,  represents 
the  people. 

So  the  duchess,  being  overwhelmed  with  debt,  laid  it  upon 
herself  to  give  no  more  than  a  moment's  thought  to  the  ava- 
lanche of  cares,  and  to  take  her  resolution  once  and  for  all ; 
Napoleon  could  take  up  or  lay  down  the  burden  of  his 
thoughts  in  precisely  the  same  way.  The  duchess  possessed 
the  faculty  of  standing  aloof  from  herself;  she  could  look  on 
as  a  spectator  at  the  crash  when  it  came,  instead  of  submitting 
to  be  buried  beneath.  This  was  certainly  great,  but  repulsive 
in  a  woman.  When  she  awoke  in  the  morning  she  collected 
her  thoughts ;  and  by  the  time  she  had  begun  to  dress  she  had 
looked  at  the  danger  in  its  fullest  extent  and  faced  the  possi- 
bilities of  terrific  downfall.  She  pondered.  Should  she  take 
refuge  in  a  foreign  country?  Or  should  she  go  to  the  King 
and  declare  her  debts  to  him?  Or  again,  should  she  fascinate 
a  du  Tillet  or  a  Nucingen,  and  gamble  on  the  Stock  Exchange 
to  pay  her  creditors  ?  The  city  man  would  find  the  money ; 
he  would  be  intelligent  enough  to  bring  her  nothing  but  the 
profits,  without  so  much  as  mentioning  the  losses,  a  piece  of 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        239 

delicacy  which  would  gloss  all  over.  The  catastrophe,  and 
these  various  ways  of  averting  it,  had  all  been  reviewed  quite 
coolly,  calmly,  and  without  trepidation. 

As  a  naturalist  takes  up  some  king  of  butterflies  and  fastens 
him  down  on  cotton-wool  with  a  pin,  so  Mme.  de  Maufrig- 
neuse  had  plucked  love  out  of  her  heart  while  she  pondered 
the  necessity  of  the  moment,  and  was  quite  ready  to  replace 
the  beautiful  passion  on  its  immaculate  setting  so  soon  as  her 
duchess'  coronet  was  safe.  She  knew  none  of  the  hesitation 
which  Cardinal  Richelieu  hid  from  all  the  world  but  Pere 
Joseph  ;  none  of  the  doubts  that  Napoleon  kept  at  first  en- 
tirely to  himself.  "Either  the  one  or  the  other,"  she  told 
herself. 

She  was  sitting  by  the  fire,  giving  orders  for  her  toilet  for 
a  drive  in  the  Bois  if  the  weather  should  be  fine,  when  Vic- 
turnien  came  in. 

The  Comte  d'Esgrignon,  with  all  his  stifled  capacity,  his  so 
keen  intellect,  was  in  exactly  the  state  which  might  have  been 
looked  for  in  the  woman.  His  heart  was  beating  violently, 
the  perspiration  broke  out  over  him  as  he  stood  in  his  dandy's 
trappings  ;  he  was  afraid  as  yet  to  lay  a  hand  on  the  corner- 
stone which  upheld  the  pyramid  of  his  life  with  Diane.  So 
much  it  cost  him  to  know  the  truth.  The  cleverest  men  are 
fain  to  deceive  themselves  on  one  or  two  points  if  the  truth 
once  known  is  likely  to  humiliate  them  in  their  own  eyes, 
and  damage  themselves  with  themselves.  Victurnien  forced 
his  own  irresolution  into  the  field  by  committing  himself. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you?"  Diane  de  Maufrigneuse 
had  said  at  once,  at  the  sight  of  her  beloved  Victurnien's 
face. 

"  Why,  dear  Diane,  I  am  in  such  utter  perplexity ;  a  man 
gone  to  the  bottom  and  at  his  last  gasp  is  happy  in  compari- 
son." 

"  Pshaw  !  it  is  nothing,"  said  she ;  "  you  are  a  child.  Let 
us  see  now;  tell  me  about  it." 


240         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

"I  am  hopelessly  in  debt.  I  have  come  to  the  end  of  my 
tether." 

"  Is  that  all  ?  "  said  she,  smiling  at  him.  "  Money  matters 
can  always  be  arranged  somehow  or  other ;  nothing  is  irre- 
trievable except  disasters  in  love." 

Victurnien's  mind  being  set  at  rest  by  this  swift  compre- 
hension of  his  position,  he  unrolled  the  bright-colored  web  of 
his  life  for  the  last  two  years  and  a  half;  but  it  was  the  seamy 
side  of  it  which  he  displayed  with  something  of  genius,  and 
still  more  of  wit,  to  his  Diane.  He  told  his  tale  with  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment,  which  fails  no  one  in  great  crises ; 
he  had  sufficient  artistic  skill  to  set  it  off  by  a  varnish  of  deli- 
cate scorn  for  men  and  things.  It  was  an  aristocrat  who 
spoke.  And  the  duchess  listened  as  she  could  listen. 

One  knee  was  raised,  for  she  sat  with  her  foot  on  a  stool. 
She  rested  her  elbow  on  her  knee  and  leaned  her  face  on  her 
hand  so  that  her  fingers  closed  daintily  over  her  shapely  chin. 
Her  eyes  never  left  his ;  but  thoughts  by  myriads  flitted  under 
the  blue  surface,  like  gleams  of  stormy  light  between  two 
clouds.  Her  forehead  was  calm,  her  mouth  gravely  intent; 
grave  with  love ;  her  lips  were  knotted  fast  by  Victurnien's 
lips.  To  have  her  listening  thus  was  to  believe  that  a  divine 
love  flowed  from  her  heart.  Wherefore,  when  the  count  had 
proposed  flight  to  this  soul,  so  closely  knit  to  his  own,  he 
could  not  help  crying: 

"  You  are  an  angel !  " 

The  fair  Maufrigneuse  made  silent  answer ;  but  she  had 
not  spoken  as  yet. 

"Good,  very  good,"  she  said  at  last.  (She  had  not  given 
herself  up  to  the  love  expressed  in  her  face ;  her  mind  had 
b.een  entirely  absorbed  by  deep-laid  schemes  which  she  kept 
to  herself.)  "But  that  is  not  the  question,  dear."  (The 
"  angel"  was  only  "  that  "  by  this  time.)  "Let  us  think  of 
your  affairs.  Yes,  we  will  go,  and  the  sooner  the  better. 
Arrange  it  all ;  I  will  follow  you.  It  is  glorious  to  leave  Paris 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         241 

and  the  world  behind.  I  will  set  about  ray  preparations  in 
such  a  way  that  no  one  can  suspect  anything." 

/  will  follow  you  !  Just  so  Mile.  Mars  might  have  spoken 
those  words  to  send  a  thrill  through  two  thousand  listening 
men  and  women.  When  a  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse  offers, 
in  such  words,  to  make  such  a  sacrifice  to  love,  she  has  paid 
her  debt.  How  should  Victurnien  speak  of  sordid  details  after 
that  ?  He  could  so  much  the  better  hide  his  schemes,  because 
Diane  was  particularly  careful  not  to  inquire  into  them.  She 
was  now,  and  always,  as  De  Marsay  said,  an  invited  guest  at 
a  banquet  wreathed  with  roses,  a  banquet  which  mankind,  as 
in  duty  bound,  made  ready  for  her. 

Victurnien  would  not  go  till  the  promise  had  been  sealed. 
He  must  draw  courage  from  his  happiness  before  he  could 
bring  himself  to  do  a  deed  on  which,  as  he  inwardly  told  him- 
self, people  would  be  certain  to  put  a  bad  construction.  Still 
(and  this  was  the  thought  that  decided  him)  he  counted  on 
his  aunt  and  father  to  hush  up  the  affair ;  he  even  counted  on 
Chesnel.  Chesnel  would  think  of  one  more  compromise. 
Beside,  "this  business,"  as  he  called  it  in  his  thoughts,  was 
the  only  way  of  raising  money  on  the  family  estate.  With 
three  hundred  thousand  francs,  he  and  Diane  would  lead  a 
happy  life  hidden  in  some  palace  in  Venice  ;  and  there  they 
would  forget  the  world.  They  went  through  their  romance  in 
advance. 

Next  day  Victurnien  made  out  a  bill  for  three  hundred 
thousand  francs,  and  took  it  to  the  Kellers.  The  Kellers 
advanced  the  money,  for  du  Croisier  happened  to  have  a 
balance  at  the  time  ;  but  they  wrote  to  let  him  know  that  he 
must  not  draw  again  on  them  without  giving  them  notice. 
Du  Croisier,  much  astonished,  asked  for  a  statement  of  ac- 
counts. It  was  sent.  Everything  was  explained.  The  day 
of  his  vengeance  had  arrived. 

When  Victurnien  had  drawn  "his"  money,  he  took  it  to 
16 


242         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse.  She  locked  up  the  banknotes  in 
her  desk,  and  proposed  to  bid  the  world  farewell  by  going  to 
the  opera  to  see  it  for  the  last  time.  Victurnien  was  thoughtful, 
absent,  and  uneasy.  He  was  beginning  to  reflect.  He  thought 
that  his  seat  in  the  duchess'  box  might  cost  him  dear;  that 
perhaps,  when  he  had  put  the  three  hundred  thousand  francs 
in  safety,  it  would  be  better  to  travel  post,  to  fall  at  Chesnel's 
feet,  and  tell  him  all.  But,  before  they  left  the  opera-house, 
the  duchess,  in  spite  of  herself,  gave  Victurnien  an  adorable 
glance,  her  eyes  were  shining  with  the  desire  to  go  back  once 
more  to  bid  farewell  to  the  nest  which  she  loved  so  much. 
And  boy  that  he  was,  he  lost  a  night. 

The  next  day,  at  three  o'clock,  he  was  back  again  at  the 
Hotel  de  Maufrigneuse ;  he  had  come  to  take  the  duchess' 
orders  for  that  night's  escape.  And,  "  Why  should  we  go?  " 
asked  she;  "I  have  thought  it  all  out.  The  Vicomtesse  de 
Beauseant  and  the  Duchesse  de  Langeais  disappeared.  If  I  go 
too,  it  will  be  something  quite  commonplace.  We  will  brave 
the  storm.  It  will  be  a  far  finer  thing  to  do.  I  am  sure  of 
success."  Victurnien's  eyes  dazzled;  he  felt  as  if  his  skin 
were  dissolving  and  the  blood  oozing  out  all  over  him. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you?"  cried  the  fair  Diane, 
noticing  a  hesitation  which  a  woman  never  forgives.  Your 
truly  adroit  lover  will  hasten  to  agree  with  any  fancy  that 
Woman  may  take  into  her  head,  and  suggest  reasons  for  doing 
otherwise,  while  leaving  her  free  exercise  of  her  right  to 
change  her  mind,  her  intentions,  and  sentiments  generally  as 
often  as  she  pleases.  Victurnien  was  angry  for  the  first  time, 
angry  with  the  wrath  of  a  weak  man  of  poetic  temperament; 
it  was  a  storm  of  rain  and  lightning  flashes,  but  no  thunder 
followed.  The  angel  on  whose  faith  he  had  risked  more  than 
his  life,  the  honor  of  his  ancient  house,  was  being  very  roughly 
handled. 

"So,"  said  she,  "we  have  come  to  this  after  eighteen 
months  of  tenderness !  You  are  unkind,  very  unkind.  Go 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         243 

away ! — I  do  not  want  to  see  you  again.     I  thought  that  you 
loved  me.     You  do  not." 

"/  do  not  love  you?"  repeated  he,  thunderstruck  by  the 
reproach. 

"  No,  monsieur." 

"And  yet "  he  cried.     "Ah  !  if  you  but  knew  what  I 

have  just  done  for  your  sake  !  " 

"And  how  have  you  done  so  much  for  me,  monsieur?  As 
if  a  man  ought  not  to  do  anything  for  a  woman  that  has  done 
so  much  for  him." 

"You  are  not  worthy  to  know  it!  "  Victurnien  cried  in  a 
passion  of  anger. 

"Oh!" 

After  that  sublime  "  Oh  !  "  Diane  bowed  her  head  on  her 
hand  and  sat,  still,  cold,  and  implacable  as  angels  naturally 
may  be  expected  to  do,  seeing  that  they  share  none  of  the 
passions  of  humanity.  At  the  sight  of  the  woman  he  loved 
in  this  terrible  attitude^  Victurnien  forgot  his  danger.  Had 
he  not  just  that  moment  wronged  the  most  angelic  creature 
on  earth  ?  He  longed  for  forgiveness,  he  threw  himself  before 
her,  he  kissed  her  feet,  he  pleaded,  he  wept.  Two  whole 
hours  the  unhappy  young  man  spent  in  all  kinds  of  follies, 
only  to  meet  the  same  cold  face,  while  the  great  silent  tears, 
dropping  one  by  one,  were  dried  as  soon  -as  they  fell  lest  the 
unworthy  lover  should  try  to  wipe  them  away.  The  duchess, 
was  acting  a  great  agony,  one  of  those  hours  which  stamp  the 
woman  who  passes  through  them  as  something  august  and 
sacred. 

Two  more  hours  went  by.  By  this  time  the  count  had 
gained  possession  of  Diane's  hand  ;  it  felt  cold  and  spiritless. 
The  beautiful  hand,  with  all  the  treasures  in  its  grasp,  might 
have  been  supple  wood  ;  there  was  nothing  of  Diane  in  it;  he 
had  taken  it,  it  had  not  been  given  to  him.  As  for  Victurnien, 
the  spirit  had  ebbed  out  of  his  frame,  he  had  ceased  to  think. 
He  would  not  have  seen  the  sun  in  heaven.  What  was  to  be 


244         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

done  ?  What  course  should  he  take  ?  What  resolution  should 
he  make  ?  The  man  who  can  keep  his  head  in  such  circum- 
stances must  be  made  of  the  same  stuff  as  the  convict  who 
spent  the  night  in  robbing  the  Bibliotheque  Royale  of  its  gold 
medals,  and  repaired  to  his  honest  brother  in  the  morning 
with  a  request  to  melt  down  the  plunder.  "  What  is  to  be 
done?"  cried  the  brother.  "  Make  me  some  coffee,"  replied 
the  thief.  Victurnien  sank  into  a  bewildered  stupor,  darkness 
settled  down  over  his  brain.  Visions  of  past  rapture  flitted 
across  the  misty  gloom  like  the  figures  that  Raphael  painted 
against  a  black  background ;  to  these  he  must  bid  farewell. 
Inexorable  and  disdainful,  the  duchess  played  with  the  tip  of 
her  scarf.  She  looked  in  irritation  at  Victurnien  from  time 
to  time ;  she  coquetted  with  memories,  she  spoke  to  her  lover 
of  his  rivals  as  if  anger  had  finally  decided  her  to  prefer  one 
of  them  to  a  man  who  could  so  change  in  one  moment  after 
twenty-eight  months  of  love. 

"Ah  !  that  charming  young  Felix  de  Vandenesse,  so  faith- 
ful as  he  was  to  Madame  de  Mortsauf,  would  never  have  per- 
mitted himself  such  a  scene  !  He  can  love,  can  de  Vande- 
nesse !  De  Marsay,  that  terrible  de  Marsay,  such  a  tiger  as 
every  one  thought  him,  was  rough  with  other  men  ;  but,  like 
all  strong  men,  he  kept  his  gentleness  for  women.  Montriveau 
trampled  the  Duchesse  de  Langeais  under  foot,  as  Othello 
killed  Desdemona,  in  a  burst  of  fury  which  at  any  rate  proved 
the  extravagance  of  his  love.  It  was  not  like  a  paltry  squabble. 
There  was  rapture  in  being  so  crushed.  Little,  fair-haired, 
slim,  and  slender  men  loved  to  torment  women;  they  could 
only  reign  over  poor,  weak  creatures ;  it  pleased  them  to  have 
some  ground  for  believing  that  they  were  men.  The  tyranny 
of  love  was  their  one  chance  of  asserting  their  power.  She 
did  not  know  why  she  had  put  herself  at  the  mercy  of  fair 
hair.  Such  men  as  de  Marsay,  Montriveau,  and  Vandenesse, 
dark-haired  and  well  grown,  had  a  ray  of  sunlight  in  their 
eyes." 


THE  JEA  L  O  USIES   OF  A    CO  UNTR  Y  TO  WN.          245 

It  was  a  storm  of  epigrams.  Her  speeches,  like  bullets, 
came  hissing  past  his  ears.  Every  word  that  Diane  hurled  at 
him  was  triple-barbed ;  she  humiliated,  stung,  and  wounded 
him  with  an  art  that  was  all  her  own,  as  half  a  score  of  savages 
can  torture  an  enemy  bound  to  a  stake. 

"You  are  mad  !  "  he  cried  at  last,  at  the  end  of  his  pa- 
tience, and  out  he  went  in  God  knows  what  mood.  He  drove 
as  if  he  had  never  handled  the  reins  before,  locked  his  wheels 
in  the  wheels  of  other  vehicles,  collided  with  the  curb-stone 
in  the  Place  Louis-Quinze,  went  he  knew  not  whither.  The 
horse,  left  to  its  own  devices,  made  a  bolt  for  the  stable  along 
the  Quai  d'Orsay ;  but  as  he  turned  into  the  Rue  de  1'Univer- 
site,  Josephin  appeared  to  stop  the  runaway. 

"  You  cannot  go  home,  sir,"  the  old  man  said,  with  a  scared 
look  on  his  honest  face;  "  they  have  come  with  a  warrant  to 
arrest  you." 

Victurnien  thought  that  he  was  to  be  arrested  on  the  crim- 
inal charge,  albeit  there  had  not  been  time  for  the  public 
prosecutor  to  receive  his  instructions.  He  had  forgotten  the 
matter  of  the  bills  of  exchange,  which  had  been  stirred  up 
again  for  some  days  past  in  the  form  of  orders  to  pay,  brought 
by  the  officers  of  the  court  with  accompaniments  in  the  shape 
of  bailiffs,  men  in  possession,  magistrates,  commissaries,  police- 
men, and  other  representatives  of  social  order.  Like  most 
guilty  creatures,  Victurnien  had  forgotten  everything  but  his 
crime. 

"It  is  all  over  with  me,"  he  cried. 

"No,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  drive  as  fast  as  you  can  to  the 
Hotel  du  Bon  la  Fontaine,  in  the  Rue  de  Crenelle.  Made- 
moiselle Armande  is  waiting  there  for  )rou,  the  horses  have 
been  put  in,  she  will  take  you  with  her." 

Victurnien,  in  his  trouble,  caught  like  a  drowning  man  at 
the  branch  that  came  to  his  hand ;  he  rushed  off  to  the  inn, 
reached  the  place,  and  flung  his  arms  about  his  aunt.  Mile. 
Armande  cried  as  if  her  heart  would  break ;  any  one  might 


246         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

have  thought  that  she  had  a  share  in  her  nephew's  guilt.  They 
stepped  into  the  carriage.  A  few  minutes  later  they  were  on 
the  road  to  Brest,  and  Paris  lay  behind  them.  Victurnien 
uttered  not  a  sound ;  he  was  paralyzed.  And  when  aunt  and 
nephew  began  to  speak,  they  talked  at  cross  purposes ;  Vic- 
turnien, still  laboring  under  the  unlucky  misapprehension 
which  flung  him  into  Mile.  Armande's  arms,  was  thinking  of 
his  forgery ;  his  aunt  had  the  debts  and  the  bills  on  her 
mind. 

"You  know  all,  aunt,"  he  had  said. 

"  Poor  boy,  yes,  but  we  are  here.  I  am  not  going  to  scold 
you  just  yet.  Take  heart." 

"  I  must  hide  somewhere." 

"  Perhaps Yes,  it  is  a  very  good  idea." 

"Perhaps  I  might  get  into  Chesnel's  house  without  being 
seen  if  we  timed  ourselves  to  arrive  in  the  middle  of  the 
night?" 

"That  will  be  best.  We  shall  be  better  able  to  hide  this 
from  my  brother.  Poor  angel!  how  unhappy  he  is!"  said 
she,  petting  the  unworthy  child. 

"Ah!  now  I  begin  to  know  what  dishonor  means;  it  has 
chilled  my  love." 

"Unhappy  boy;  what  bliss  and  what  misery!"  And 
Mile.  Armande  drew  his  fevered  face  to  her  breast  and  kissed 
his  forehead,  cold  and  damp  though  it  was,  as  the  holy  women 
might  have  kissed  the  brow  of  the  dead  Christ  when  they  laid 
Him  in  His  grave-clothes.  Following  out  the  excellent 
scheme  suggested  by  the  prodigal  son,  he  was  brought  by 
night  to  the  quiet  house  in  the  Rue  du  Bercail ;  but  chance 
ordered  it  that  by  so  doing  he  ran  straight  into  the  wolf's 
jaws,  as  the  saying  goes.  That  evening  Chesnel  had  been 
making  arrangements  to  sell  his  connection  to  M.  Lepressoir's 
head-clerk.  M.  Lepressoir  was  the  notary  employed  by  the 
Liberals,  just  as  Chesnel's  practice  lay  among  the  aristocratic 
families.  The  young  fellow's  relatives  were  rich  enough  to 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        247 

pay  Chesnel  the  considerable  sum  of  a  hundred  thousand 
francs  in  cash. 

Chesnel  was  rubbing  his  hands.  "A  hundred  thousand 
francs  will  go  a  long  way  in  buying  up  debts,"  he  thought. 
"  The  young  man  is  paying  a  high  rate  of  interest  on  his  loans. 
We  will  lock  him  up  down  here.  I  will  go  yonder  myself 
and  bring  those  curs  to  terms." 

Chesnel,  honest  Chesnel,  upright,  worthy  Chesnel,  called 
his  darling  Comte  Victurnien's  creditors  ''curs." 

Meanwhile  his  successor  was  making  his  way  along  the  Rue 
du  Bercail  just  as  Mile.  Armande's  traveling  carriage  turned 
into  it.  Any  young  man  might  be  expected  to  feel  some 
curiosity  if  he  saw  a  traveling  carriage  stop  at  a  notary's  door 
in  such  a  town  and  at  such  an  hour  of  the  night ;  the  young 
man  in  question  was  sufficiently  inquisitive  to  stand  in  a  door- 
way and  watch.  He  saw  Mile.  Armande  alight. 

"Mademoiselle  d'Esgrignon  at  this  time  of  night !  "  said 
he  to  himself.  "What  can  be  going  forward  at  the  d'Es- 
grignons?" 

At  the  sight  of  mademoiselle,  Chesnel  opened  the  door 
circumspectly  and  set  down  the  light  which  he  was  carrying ; 
but  when  he  looked  out  and  saw  Victurnien,  Mile.  Armande's 
first  whispered  word  made  the  whole  thing  plain  to  him.  He 
looked  up  and  down  the  street ;  it  seemed  quite  deserted  ;  he 
beckoned,  and  the  young  count  sprang  out  of  the  carriage  and 
entered  the  courtyard.  All  was  lost.  Chesnel's  successor 
had  discovered  Victurnien's  hiding-place. 

Victurnien  was  hurried  into  the  house  and  installed  in  a 
room  beyond  Chesnel's  private  office.  No  one  could  enter  it 
except  across  the  old  man's  dead  body. 

"Ah!  Monsieur  le  Comte!"  exclaimed  Chesnel,  notary 
no  longer. 

"Yes,  monsieur,"  the  count  answered,  understanding  his 
old  friend's  exclamation.  "I  did  not  listen  to  you;  and  now 
I. have  fallen  into  the  depths,  and  I  must  perish." 


248         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN: 

"No,  no,"  the  good  man  answered,  looking  triumphantly 
from  Mile.  Armande  to  the  count.  "  I  have  sold  my  con- 
nection. I  have  been  working  for  a  very  long  time  now,  and 
am  thinking  of  retiring.  By  noon  to-morrow  I  shall  have  a 
hundred  thousand  francs;  many  things  can  be  settled  with 
that.  Mademoiselle,  you  are  tired,"  he  added;  "go  back 
to  the  carriage  and  go  home  and  sleep.  Business  to-morrow." 

"  Is  he  safe  ?  "  returned  she,  looking  at  Victurnien. 

"Yes," 

She  kissed  her  nephew ;  a  few  tears  fell  on  his  forehead. 
Then  she  went. 

"  My  good  Chesnel,"  said  the  count,  when  they  began  to 
talk  of  business,  "  what  are  your  hundred  thousand  francs  in 
such  a  position  as  mine  ?  You  do  not  know  the  full  extent 
of  my  troubles,  I  think." 

Victurnien  explained  the  situation.  Chesnel  was  thunder- 
struck. But  for  the  strength  of  his  devotion,  he  would  have 
succumbed  to  this  blow.  Tears  streamed  from  the  eyes  that 
might  well  have  had  no  tears  left  to  shed.  For  a  few  moments 
he  was  a  child  again,  for  a  few  moments  he  was  bereft  of  his 
senses ;  he  stood  like  a  man  who  should  find  his  own  house 
on  fire,  and  through  a  window  see  the  cradle  ablaze  and 
hear  the  hiss  of  the  flames  on  his  children's  curls.  He  rose 
to  his  full  height — il  se  dressa  en  pied,  as  Amyot  would  have 
said  ;  he  seemed  to  grow  taller ;  he  raised  his  withered  hands 
and  wrung  them  despairingly  and  wildly. 

"  If  only  your  father  may  die  and  never  know  this,  young 
man  !  To  be  a  forger  is  enough  ;  a  parricide  you  must  not 
be.  Fly,  you  say?  No.  They  would  condemn  you  for  con- 
tempt of  court !  Oh,  wretched  boy  !  Why  did  you  not  forge 
my  signature?  /would  have  paid.  I  should  not  have  taken 
the  bill  to  the  public  prosecutor.  Now  I  can  do  nothing. 

You  have  brought  me  to  a  stand  in  the  lowest  pit  in  hell ! 

Du  Croisier  !  What  will  come  of  it  ?  What  is  to  be  done  ? 
If  you  had  killed  a  man,  there  might  be  some  help  for  it. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN,        249 

But  forgery — -forgery.'  And  time — the  time  is  flying,"  he 
went  on,  shaking  his  fist  toward  the  old  clock.  "  You  will 
want  a  sham  passport  now.  One  crime  leads  to  another. 
First,"  he  added,  after  a  pause,  "  first  of  all  we  must  save  the 
house  of  d'Esgrignon." 

"  But  the  money  is  still  in  Madame  de  Maufrigneuse's 
keeping,"  exclaimed  Victurnien. 

"Ah!"  exclaimed  Chesnel.  "Well,  there  is  some  hope 
left — a  faint  hope.  Could  we  soften  du  Croisier,  I  wonder, 
or  buy  him  over  ?  He  shall  have  all  the  lands  if  he  likes.  I 
will  go  to  him;  I  will  wake  him  and  offer  him  all  we  have. 
Beside,  it  was  not  you  who  forged  that  bill :  it  was  I.  I  will 
go  to  jail ;  I  am  too  old  for  the  hulks,  they  can  only  put  me 
in  prison." 

"But  the  body  of  the  bill  is  in  my  handwriting,"  objected 
Victurnien,  without  a  sign  of  surprise  at  this  reckless  devotion. 

"  Idiot  ! that  is,  pardon,  Monsieur  le  Comte.  Josephin 

should  have  been  made  to  write  it,"  the  old  notary  cried 
wrathfully.  "  He  is  a  good  creature  ;  he  would  have  taken  it 
all  on  his  shoulders.  But  there  is  an  end  of  it ;  the  world 
is  falling  to  pieces,"  the  old  man  continued,  sinking  ex- 
hausted into  a  chair.  "  Du  Croisier  is  a  tiger;  we  must  be 
careful  not  to  rouse  him.  What  time  is  it  ?  Where  is  the 
draft?  If  it  is  at  Paris,  it  might  be  bought  back  from  the 
Kellers ;  they  might  accommodate  us.  Ah  !  but  there  are 
dangers  on  all  sides  ;  a  single  false  step  means  ruin.  Money 
is  wanted  in  any  case.  But,  there  !  nobody  knows  you  are 
here,  you  must  live  buried  away  in  the  cellar  if  needs  must. 
I  will  go  at  once  to  Paris  as  fast  as  I  can  ;  I  can  hear  the  mail- 
coach  from  Brest." 

In  a  moment  the  old  man  recovered  the  faculties  of  his 
youth — his  agility  and  vigor.  He  packed  up  clothes  for  the 
journey,  took  money,  brought  a  six-pound  loaf  to  the  little 
room  beyond  the  office,  and  turned  the.  key  on  his  child  by 
adoption. 


250         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"  Not  a  sound  in  here,"  he  said  ;  "  no  light  at  night ;  and 
stop  here  till  I  come  back,  or  you  will  go  to  the  hulks.  Do 
you  understand,  Monsieur  le  Comte  ?  Yes,  to  the  hulks  !  if 
anybody  in  a  town  like  this  knows  that  you  are  here." 

With  that  Chesnel  went  out,  first  telling  his  housekeeper 
to  give  out  that  he  was  ill,  to  allow  no  one  to  come  into  the 
house,  to  send  everybody  away,  and  to  postpone  business  of 
every  kind  for  three  days.  He  wheedled  the  manager  of  the 
coach-office,  made  up  a  tale  for  his  benefit — he  had  the  makings 
of  an  ingenious  novelist  in  him — and  obtained  a  promise  that 
if  there  should  be  a  place,  he  should  have  it,  passport  or  no 
passport,  as  well  as  a  further  promise  to  keep  the  hurried 
departure  a  secret.  Luckily,  the  coach  was  empty  when  it 
arrived. 

In  the  middle  of  the  following  night  Chesnel  was  set  down 
in  Paris.  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  waited  on  the 
Kellers,  and  learned  that  the  fatal  draft  had  returned  to  du 
Croisier  three  days  since  ;  but  while  obtaining  this  information, 
he  in  no  way  committed  himself.  Before  he  went  away  he 
inquired  whether  the  draft  could  be  recovered  if  the  amount 
were  refunded.  Francois  Keller's  answer  was  to  the  effect 
that  the  document  was  du  Croisier's  property,  and  that  it  was 
entirely  in  his  power  to  keep  or  return  it.  Then,  in  despera- 
tion, the  old  man  went  to  the  duchess. 

Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse  was  not  at  home  to  any  visitor  at 
that  hour.  Chesnel,  feeling  that  every  moment  was  precious, 
sat  down  in  the  hall,  wrote  a  few  lines,  and  succeeded  in 
sending  them  to  the  lady  by  dint  of  wheedling,  fascinating, 
bribing,  and  commanding  the  most  insolent  and  inaccessible 
servants  in  the  world.  The  duchess  was  still  in  bed ;  but,  to 
the  great  astonishment  of  her  household,  the  old  man  in  black 
knee-breeches,  ribbed  stockings,  and  shoes  with  buckles  to 
tham  was  shown  into  her  room. 

"What  is  it,  monsieur?"  she  asked,  posing  in  her  dis- 
order. "  What  does  he  want  of  me,  ungrateful  that  he  is  ?  'j 


"WHAT  is  IT,  MONSIEUR?"  SHE  ASKED,  POSING 

IN    HER    DISORDER. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        251 

"It  is  this,  Madame  la  Duchesse,"  the  good  man  ex- 
claimed, "you  have  a  hundred  thousand  crowns  belonging 
to  us." 

"  Yes,"  began  she.      "  What  does  it  signify ?  " 

"  The  money  was  gained  by  a  forgery,  for  which  we  are  going 
to  the  hulks,  a  forgery  which  we  committed  for  love  of  you," 
Chesnel  said  quickly.  "  How  is  it  that  you  did  not  guess  it, 
so  clever  as  you  are?  Instead  of  scolding  the  boy,  you  ought 
to  have  had  the  truth  out  of  him,  and  stopped  him  while  there 
was  time,  and  saved  him." 

At  the  first  words  the  duchess  understood ;  she  felt  ashamed 
of  her  behavior  to  so  impassioned  a  lover,  and  afraid  beside 
that  she  might  be  suspected  of  complicity.  In  her  wish  to 
prove  that  she  had  not  touched  the  money  left  in  her  keeping, 
she  lost  all  regard  for  appearances ;  and  beside,  it  did  not 
occur  to  her  that  a  notary  was  a  man.  She  flung  off  the 
eider-down  quilt,  sprang  to  her  desk  (flitting  past  the  lawyer 
like  an  angel  out  of  one  of  the  vignettes  which  illustrate  La- 
martine's  books),  held  out  the  notes,  and  went  back  in  con- 
fusion to  bed. 

"  You  are  an  angel,  madame."  (She  was  to  be  an  angel 
for  all  the  world,  it  seemed.)  "But  this  will  not  be  the  end 
of  it.  I  count  upon  your  influence  to  save  us." 

"To  save  you!  I  will  do  it  or  die  !  Love  that  will  not 
shrink  from  a  crime  must  be  love,  indeed.  Is  there  a  woman 
in  the  world  for  whom  such  a  thing  has  been  done?  Poor 
boy  !  Come,  do  not  lose  time,  dear  Monsieur  Chesnel ;  and 
count  upon  me  as  upon  yourself." 

"Madame  la  Duchesse!  Madame  la  Duchesse!"  It  was 
all  that  he  could  say,  so  overcome  was  he.  He  cried,  he 
could  have  danced  ;  but  he  was  afraid  of  losing  his  senses,  and 
refrained. 

"Between  us,  we  will  save  him,"  she  said,  as  he  left  the 
room. 

Chesnel  went  straight  to  Josephin.     Josephin  unlocked  the 


252         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

young  count's  desk  and  writing-table.  Very  luckily,  the 
notary  found  letters  which  might  be  useful,  letters  from  du 
Croisier  and  the  Kellers.  Then  he  took  a  place  in  a  diligence 
which  was  just  about  to  start;  and,  by  dint  of  fees  to  the 
postillions,  the  lumbering  vehicle  went  as  quickly  as  the 
coach.  His  two  fellow-passengers  on  the  journey  happened 
to  be  in  as  great  a  hurry  as  he  himself,  and  readily  agreed  to 
take  their  meals  in  the  carriage.  Thus  swept  over  the  road, 
the  notary  reached  the  Rue  du  Bercail,  after  three  days  of 
absence,  an  hour  before  midnight.  And  yet  he  was  too  late. 
He  saw  the  gendarmes  at  the  gate,  crossed  the  threshold,  and 
met  the  young  count  in  the  courtyard.  Victurnien  had  been 
arrested.  If  Chesnel  had  had  the  power,  he  would,  beyond  a 
doubt,  have  killed  the  officers  and  men  ;  as  it  was,  he  could 
only  fall  on  Victurnien's  neck. 

"  If  I  cannot  hush  this  matter  up,  you  must  kill  yourself  be- 
fore the  indictment  is  made  out,"  he  whispered.  But  Vic- 
turnien had  sunk  into  such  stupor  that  he  stared  back  uncom- 
prehendingly. 

"Kill' myself?"  he  repeated. 

"Yes.  If  your  courage  should  fail,  my  boy,  count  upon 
me,"  said  Chesnel,  squeezing  Victurnien's  hand. 

In  spite  of  his  anguish  of  mind  and  tottering  limbs,  he 
stood  firmly  planted,  to  watch  the  son  of  his  heart,  the  Comte 
d'Esgrignon,  go  out  of  the  courtyard  between  two  gendarmes, 
with  the  commissary,  the  justice  of  the  peace,  and  the  clerk 
of  the  court ;  and  not  until  the  figures  had  disappeared,  and 
the  sound  of  footsteps  had  died  away  into  silence,  did  he  re- 
cover his  firmness  and  presence  of  mind. 

"You  will  catch  cold,  sir,"  Brigitte  remonstrated. 

"The  devil  take  you  !  "  cried  her  aroused  and  exasperated 
master. 

Never  in  the  nine-and-twenty  years  that  Brigitte  had  been 
in  his  service  had  she  heard  such  words  from  him  !  Her 
candle  fell  out  of  her  hands ;  but  Chesnel  neither  heeded  his 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        253 

housekeeper's  alarm  nor  heard  her  exclaim.     He  hurried  off 
toward  the  Val-Noble. 

"He  is  out  of  his  mind,"  said  she;  "after  all,  it  is  no 
wonder.  But  where  is  he  off  to  ?  I  cannot  possibly  go  after 
him.  What  will  become  of  him?  Suppose  that  he  should 
drown  himself!  " 

And  Brigitte  went  to  waken  the  head-clerk  and  send  him  to 
look  along  the  river-bank ;  the  river  had  a  gloomy  reputation 
just  then,  for  there  had  lately  been  two  cases  of  suicide — one 
a  young  man  full  of  promise,  and  the  other  a  girl,  a  victim  of 
seduction.  Chesnel  went  straight  to  the  Hotel  du  Croisier. 
There  lay  his  only  hope.  The  law  requires  that  a  charge  of 
forgery  must  be  brought  by  a  private  individual.  It  was  still 
possible  to  withdraw  if  du  Croisier  chose  to  admit  that  there 
had  been  a  misapprehension ;  and  Chesnel  had  hopes,  even 
then,  of  buying  the  man  over. 

M.  and  Mme.  du  Croisier  had  much  more  company  than 
usual  that  evening.  Only  a  few  persons  were  in  the  secret. 
M.  du  Ronceret,  president  of  the  Tribunal ;  M.  Sauvager, 
deputy  public  prosecutor;  and  M.  du  Coudrai,  a  registrar  of 
mortgages,  who  had  lost  his  post  by  voting  on  the  wrong  side, 
were  the  only  persons  who  were  supposed  to  know  about  it ; 
but  Mesdames  du  Ronceret  and  du  Coudrai  had  told  the  news, 
in  strict  confidence,  to  one  or  two  intimate  friends,  so  that  it 
had  spread  half  over  the  semi-noble,  semi-bourgeois  assembly 
at  M.  du  Croisier's.  Everybody  felt  the  gravity  of  the  situa- 
tion, but  no  one  ventured  to  speak  of  it  openly ;  and,  more- 
over, Mme.  du  Croisier's  attachment  to  the  upper  sphere  was 
so  well  known  that  people  scarcely  dared  to  mention  the  dis- 
aster which  had  befallen  the  d'Esgrignons  or  to  ask  for  par- 
ticulars. The  persons  most  interested  were  waiting  till  good 
Mme.  du  Croisier  retired,  for  that  lady  always  retreated  to  her 
room  at  the  same  hour  to  perform  her  religious  exercises  as 
far  as  possible  out  of  her  husband's  sight. 

Du  Croisier's  adherents,  knowing  the  secret  and  the  plans 


254         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

of  the  great  commercial  power,  looked  round  when  the  lady 
of  the  house  disappeared;  but  there  were  still  several  persons 
present  whose  opinions  or  interests  marked  them  out  as  untrust- 
worthy, so  they  continued  to  play.  About  half-past  eleven 
all  had  gone  save  intimates :  M.  Sauvager,  M.  Camusot,  the 
examining  magistrate,  and  his  wife,  M.  and  Mme.  du  Ron- 
ceret  and  their  son  Fabien,  M.  and  Mme.  du  Coudrai,  and 
Joseph  Blondet,  the  eldest  son  of  an  old  judge ;  ten  persons 
in  all. 

It  is  told  of  Talleyrand  that  one  fatal  day,  three  hours  after 
midnight,  he  suddenly  interrupted  a  game  of  cards  in  the 
Duchesse  de  Luynes'  house  by  laying  down  his  watch  on  the 
table  and  asking  the  players  whether  the  Prince  de  Conde  had 
any  child  but  the  Due  d'Enghien. 

"  Why  do  you  ask  ?  "  returned  Mme.  de  Luynes,  "  when  you 
know  so  well  that  he  has  not." 

'"Because  if  the  prince  has  no  other  son,  the  House  of 
Conde  is  now  at  an  end." 

There  was  a  moment's  pause,  and  they  finished  the  game. 
President  du  Ronceret  now  did  something  very  similar.  Per- 
haps he  had  heard  the  anecdote ;  perhaps,  in  political  life, 
little  minds  and  great  minds  are  apt  to  hit  upon  the  same 
expression.  He  looked  at  his  watch,  and  interrupted  the  game 
of  boston  with — 

"At  this  moment  Monsieur  le  Comte  d'Esgrignon  is  ar- 
rested, and  that  house  which  has  held  its  head  so  high  is  dis- 
honored for  ever." 

"  Then  have  you  got  hold  of  the  boy?  "  du  Coudrai  cried 
gleefully. 

Every  one  in  the  room,  with  the  exception  of  the  president, 
the  deputy,  and  du  Croisier,  looked  startled. 

"  He  has  just  been  arrested  in  Chesnel's  house,  where  he 
was  hiding,"  said  the  deputy  public  prosecutor,  with  the  air 
of  a  capable  but  unappreciated  public  servant,  who  ought  by 
rights  to  be  minister  of  police.  M.  Sauvager,  the  deputy,  was 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        255 

a  thin,  tall  young  man  of  five-and-twenty,  with  a  lengthy 
olive-hued  countenance,  black  frizzled  hair,  and  deep-set 
eyes ;  the  wide,  dark  rings  beneath  them  were  completed  by 
the  wrinkled  purple  eyelids  above.  With  a  nose  like  the 
beak  of  some  bird  of  prey,  a  pinched  mouth,  and  cheeks  worn 
lean  with  study  and  hollowed  by  ambition,  he  was  the  very 
type  of  a  second-rate  personage  on  the  lookout  for  something 
to  turn  up,  and  ready  to  do  anything  if  so  he  might  get  on 
in  the  world,  while  keeping  within  the  limitations  of  the  pos- 
sible and  the  forms  of  law.  His  pompous  expression  was  an 
admirable  indication  of  the  time-serving  eloquence  to  be  ex- 
pected of  him.  Chesnel's  successor  had  discovered  the  young 
count's  hiding-place  to  him,  and  he  took  great  credit  to  him- 
self for  his  penetration. 

The  news  seemed  to  come  as  a  shock  to  the  examining 
magistrate,  M.  Camusot,  who  had  granted  the  warrant  of 
arrest  on  Sauvager's  application,  with  no  idea  that  it  was  to 
be  executed  so  promptly.  Camusot  was  short,  fair,  and  fat 
already,  though  he  was  only  thirty  years  old  or  thereabout ;  he 
had  the  flabby,  livid  look  peculiar  to  officials  who  live  shut 
up  in  their  private  study  or  in  a  court  of  justice ;  and  his  little, 
pale,  yellow  eyes  were  full  of  the  suspicion  which  is  often 
mistaken  for  shrewdness. 

Mme.  Camusot  looked  at  her  spouse,  as  who  should  say: 
"Was  I  not  right?" 

"  Then  the  case  will  come  on  ?  "  was  Camusot's  comment. 

"Could  you  doubt  it?"  asked  du  Coudrai.  "  Now  they 
have  got  the  count,  all  is  over." 

"There  is  the  jury,"  said  Camusot.  "In  this  case,  Mon- 
sieur le  Prefet  is  sure  to  take  care  that,  after  the  challenges 
from  the  prosecution  and  the  defense,  the  jury  to  a  man  will 
be  for  an  acquittal.  My  advice  would  be  to  come  to  a  com- 
promise," he  added,  turning  to  du  Croisier. 

"Compromise!"  echoed  the  president;  "why,  he  is  in 
the  hands  of  justice." 


266         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"Acquitted  or  convicted,  the  Comte  d'Esgrignon  will  be 
dishonored  all  the  same,"  put  in  Sauvager. 

"I  am  bringing  an  action,"*  said  du  Croisier.  "I  shall 
have  Dupin  senior.  We  shall  see  how  the  d'Esgrignon  family 
will  escape  out  of  his  clutches." 

"The  d'Esgrignons  will  defend  the  case  and  have  counsel 
from  Paris;  they  will  have  Berryer,"  said  Mme.  Camusot. 
"  You  will  have  a  Roland  for  your  Oliver." 

Du  Croisier,  M.  Sauvager,  and  the  President  du  Ronceret 
looked  at  Camusot,  and  one  thought  troubled  their  minds. 
The  lady's  tone,  the  way  in  which  she  flung  her  proverb  in 
the  faces  of  the  eight  conspirators  against  the  house  d'Es- 
grignon, caused  them  inward  perturbation,  which  they  dis- 
sembled as  provincials  can  dissemble,  by  dint  of  lifelong 
practice  in  the  shifts  of  a  monastic  existence.  Little  Mme. 
Camusot  saw  their  change  of  countenance  and  subsequent 
composure  when  they  scented  opposition  on  the  part  of  the 
examining  magistrate.  When  her  husband  unveiled  the 
thoughts  in  the  back  of  his  own  mind,  she  had  tried  to  plumb 
the  depths  of  hate  in  du  Croisier's  adherents.  She  wanted  to 
find  out  how  du  Croisier  had  gained  over  this  deputy  public 
prosecutor,  who  had  acted  so  promptly  and  so  directly  in 
opposition  to  the  views  of  the  central  power. 

"In  any  case,"  continued  she,  "  if  celebrated  counsel  come 
down  from  Paris,  there  is  a  prospect  of  a  very  interesting 
session  in  the  Court  of  Assize ;  but  the  matter  will  be  snuffed 
out  between  the  Tribunal  and  the  Court  of  Appeal.  It  is  only 
to  be  expected  that  the  Government  should  do  all  that  can  be 
done,  below  the  surface,  to  save  a  young  man  who  comes  of  a 
great  family,  and  has  the  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse  for  friend. 
So  I  do  not  think  that  we  shall  have  '  a  sensation  at  Lan- 
dernau.'  " 

*  A  trial  for  an  offense  of  this  kind  in  France  is  an  action  brought  by  a 
private  person  (partie  civile)  to  recover  damages,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
criminal  prosecution  conducted  on  behalf  of  the  Government. — TR. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         257 

"How  you  go  on,  madame  !  "  the  president  said  sternly. 
"  Can  you  suppose  that  the  Court  of  First  Instance  will  be 
influenced  by  considerations  which  have  nothing  to  do  with 
justice?" 

"The  event  proves  the  contrary,"  she  said  meaningly, 
looking  full  at  Sauvager  and  the  president,  who  glanced  coldly 
at  her. 

"Explain  yourself,  madame,"  said  Sauvager.  "You  speak 
as  if  we  had  not  done  our  duty." 

"Madame  Camusot  meant  nothing,"  interposed  her  hus- 
band. 

"But  has  not  Monsieur  le  President  just  said  something 
prejudicing  a  case  which  depends  on  the  examination  of  the 
prisoner?  "  said  she.  "And  the  evidence  is  still  to  be  taken, 
and  the  court  has  not  given  its  decision  ?  " 

"We  are  not  at  the  law-courts,"  the  deputy  public  prose- 
cutor replied  tartly;  "and  beside,  we  know  all  that." 

"  But  the  public  prosecutor  knows  nothing  at  all  about  it 
yet,"  returned  she,  with  an  ironical  glance.  "  He  will  come 
back  from  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in  all  haste.  You  have 
cut  out  his  work  for  him,  and  he,  no  doubt,  will  speak  for 
himself." 

The  deputy  prosecutor  knitted  his  thick  bushy  brows. 
Those  interested  read  tardy  scruples  in  his  countenance.  A 
great  silence  followed,  broken  by  no  sound  but  the  dealing 
of  the  cards.  M.  and  Mme.  Camusot,  sensible  of  a  decided 
chill  in  the  atmosphere,  took  their  departure  to  leave  the  con- 
spirators to  talk  at  their  ease. 

"Camusot,"  the  lady  began  in  the  street,  "you  went  too 
far.  Why  lead  those  people  to  suspect  that  you  will  have  no 
part  in  their  schemes?  They  will  play  you  some  ugly  trick." 

"What  can  they  do?  I  am  the  only  examining  magis- 
trate." 

"  Cannot  they  slander  you  in  whispers,  and  procure  your 
dismissal?" 
17 


258         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

At  that  very  moment  Chesnel  ran  up  against  the  couple. 
The  old  notary  recognized  the  examining  magistrate;  and 
with  the  lucidity  which  comes  of  an  experience  of  business, 
he  saw  that  the  fate  of  the  d'Esgrignons  lay  in  the  hands  of 
the  young  man  before  him. 

"  Ah,  sir !  "  he  exclaimed,  "we  shall  soon  need  you  badly. 
Just  a  word  with  you.  Your  pardon,  madame,"  he  added, 
as  he  drew  Camusot  aside. 

Mme.  Camusot,  as  a  good  conspirator,  looked  toward  du 
Croisier's  house,  ready  to  break  up  the  conversation  if  any- 
body appeared ;  but  she  thought,  and  thought  rightly,  that 
their  enemies  were  busy  discussing  this  unexpected  turn 
which  she  had  given  to  the  affair.  Chesnel  meanwhile  drew 
the  magistrate  into  a  dark  corner  under  the  wall,  and  lowered 
his  voice  for  his  companion's  ear. 

"If,  sir,  you  are  for  the  house  d'Esgrignon,"  he  said, 
"  Madame  la  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse,  the  Prince  de  Cadig- 
nan,  the  Dues  de  Navarreins  and  de  Lenoncourt,  the  keeper 
of  the  seals,  the  chancellor,  the  King  himself,  will  interest 
themselves  in  you.  I  have  just  come  from  Paris ;  I  knew  all 
about  this;  I  went  post-haste  to  explain  everything  at  Court. 
We  are  counting  on  you,  and  I  will  keep  your  secret.  If  you 
are  hostile,  I  shall  go  back  to  Paris  to-morrow  and  lodge  a 
complaint  with  the  keeper  of  the  seals  that  there  is  a  suspicion 
of  corruption.  Several  functionaries  were  at  du  Croisier's 
house  to-night,  and,  no  doubt,  ate  and  drank  there,  contrary 
to  law;  and  beside,  they  are  friends  of  his." 

Chesnel  would  have  brought  the  Almighty  to  intervene  if 
he  had  had  the  power.  He  did  not  wait  for  an  answer ;  he 
left  Camusot  and  fled  like  a  deer  toward  du  Croisier's  house. 
Camusot,  meanwhile,  bidden  to  reveal  the  notary's  confi- 
dences, was  at  once  assailed  with  :  "  Was  I  not  right,  dear?  " 
— a  wifely  formula  used  on  all  occasions,  but  rather  more 
vehemently  when  the  fair  speaker  is  in  the  wrong.  By  the 
time  they  reached  home  Camusot  had  admitted  the  superiority 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        259 

of  his  partner  in  life,  and  appreciated  his  good  fortune  in 
belonging  to  her  ;  which  confession,  doubtless,  was  the  prelude 
of  a  blissful  night. 

Chesnel  met  his  foes  in  a  body  as  they  left  du  Croisier's 
house,  and  began  to  fear  that  du  Croisier  had  gone  to  bed. 
In  his  position  he  was  compelled  to  act  quickly,  and  any 
delay  was  a  misfortune. 

"In  the  King's  name  !  "  he  cried,  as  the  manservant  was 
closing  the  hall  door.  He  had  just  brought  the  King  on  the 
scene  for  the  benefit  of  an  ambitious  little  official,  and  the 
word  was  still  on  his  lips.  He  fretted  and  chafed  while  the 
door  was  unbarred  ;  then,  swift  as  a  thunderbolt,  dashed  into 
the  antechamber,  and  spoke  to  the  servant — 

"  A  hundred  crowns  to  you,  young  man,  if  you  can  wake 
Madame  du  Croisier  and  send  her  to  me  this  instant.  Tell 
her  anything  you  like." 

Chesnel  grew  cool  and  composed  as  he  opened  the  door  of 
the  brightly  lighted  drawing-room,  where  du  Croisier  was 
striding  up  and  down.  For  a  moment  the  two  men  scanned 
each  other,  with  hatred  and  enmity,  twenty  years'  deep,  in 
their  eyes.  One  of  the  two  had  his  foot  on  the  heart  of  the 
house  d'Esgrignon  ;  the  other,  with  a  lion's  strength,  came 
forward  to  pluck  it  away. 

"Your  humble  servant,  sir,"  said  Chesnel.  "Have  you 
made  the  charge  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  When  was  it  made  ?  " 

"Yesterday." 

"  Have  any  steps  been  taken  since  the  warrant  of  arrest 
was  issued  ?  ' ' 

"  I  believe  so." 

"  I  have  come  to  treat  with  you." 

"  Justice  must  take  its  course,  nothing  can  stop  it,  the  arrest 
has  been  made." 

"  Never  mind  that,  I  am  at  your  orders,  at  your  feet." 


260         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY    TOWN. 

The  old  man  knelt  before  du  Croisier,  and  stretched  out  his 
hands  entreatingly. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  Our  lands,  our  castle  ?  Take  all ; 
withdraw  the  charge ;  leave  us  nothing  but  life  and  honor. 
And  over  and  beside  all  this,  I  will  be  your  servant ;  command, 
and  I  will  obey." 

Du  Croisier  sat  down  in  an  easy-chair  and  left  the  old  man 
to  kneel. 

"You  are  not  vindictive,"  pleaded  Chesnel  ;  "you  are 
good-hearted,  you  do  not  bear  us  such  a  grudge  that  you  will 
not  listen  to  terms.  Before  daylight  the  young  man  ought  to 
be  at  liberty." 

"The  whole  town  knows  that  he  has  been  arrested,"  re- 
turned du  Croisier,  enjoying  his  revenge. 

"  It  is  a  great  misfortune ;  but  as  there  will  neither  be 
proofs  nor  trial,  we  can  easily  manage  that." 

Du  Croisier  reflected.  He  seemed  to  be  struggling  with 
self-interest ;  Chesnel  thought  that  he  had  gained  a  hold  on 
his  enemy  through  the  great  motive  of  human  action.  At 
that  supreme  moment  Mmc.  du  Croisier  appeared. 

"  Come  here  and  help  me  to  soften  your  dear  husband, 
madame,"  said  Chesnel,  still  on  his  knees.  Mme.  du  Croisier 
made  him  rise  with  every  sign  of  profound  astonishment. 
Chesnel  explained  his  errand  ;  and  when  she  knew  it,  the 
generous  daughter  of  the  stewards  of  the  Dues  d'Alencon 
turned  to  du  Croisier  with  tears  :./•  her  eyes. 

"Ah  !  monsieur,  can  you  hesitate?  The  d'Esgrignons,  the 
honor  of  the  province  !  "  she  said. 

"There  is  more  in  it  than  that !  "  exclaimed  du  Croisier, 
rising  to  begin  his  restless  walk  again. 

"More?  What  more?"  asked  Maitre  Chesnel  in  sheer 
amazement. 

"  France  is  involved,  Monsieur  Chesnel.  It  is  a  question 
of  the  country,  of  the  people,  of  giving  my  lords  your  nobles 
a  lesson,  and  teaching  them  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  jus- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.  261 

tice,  and  law,  and  a  bourgeoisie — a  lesser  nobility  as  good  as 
they,  and  a  match  for  them  !  There  shall  be  no  more  tram- 
pling down  half  a  score  of  wheat-fields  for  a  single  hare  ;  no 
bringing  shame  on  families  by  seducing  unprotected  girls ; 
they  shall  not  look  down  on  others  as  good  as  they  are,  and 
mock  at  them  for  ten  whole  years,  without  finding  out  at  last 
that  these  things  swell  into  avalanches,  and  those  avalanches 
will  fall  and  crush  and  bury  my  lords  the  nobles.  You  want 
to  go  back  to  the  old  order  of  things.  You  want  to  tear  up 
the  social  compact,  the  Charter,  in  which  our  rights  are  set 
forth " 

"And  so?" 

"Is  it  not  a  sacred  mission  to  open  the  people's  eyes?" 
cried  du  Croisier.  "  Their  eyes  will  be  opened  to  the  moral- 
ity of  your  party  when  they  see  nobles  going  to  be  tried  at  the 
Assize  Court  like  Pierre  and  Jacques.  They  will  say,  then, 
that  small  folk  who  keep  their  self-respect  are  as  good  as  great 
folk  that  bring  shame  on  themselves.  The  Assize  Court  is  a 
light  for  all  the  world.  Here,  I  am  the  champion  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  friend  of  law.  You  yourselves  twice  flung  me  on  the 
side  of  the  people — once  when  you  refused  an  alliance,  twice 
when  you  put  me  under  the  ban  of  your  society.  You  are 
reaping  as  you  have  sown." 

If  Chesnel  was  startled  by  this  outburst,  so  no  less  was 
Mme.  du  Croisier.  To  her  this  was  a  terrible  revelation  of 
her  husband's  character,  a  new  light  not  merely  on  the  past 
but  on  the  future  as  well.  Any  capitulation  on  the  part  of 
the  colossus  was  apparently  out  of  the  question  ;  but  Chesnel 
in  nowise  retreated  before  the  impossible. 

"What,  monsieur?"  said  Mme.  du  Croisier.  "Would 
you  not  forgive?  Then  you  are  not  a  Christian." 

"  I  forgive  as  God  forgives,  madame,  on  certain  condi- 
tions." 

"And  what  are  they?"  asked  Chesnel,  thinking  that  he 
saw  a  ray  of  hope. 


262         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"  The  elections  are  coming  on ;  I  want  the  votes  at  your 
disposal." 

"You  shall  have  them." 

"  I  wish  that  we,  my  wife  and  I,  should  be  received  famil- 
iarly every  evening,  with  an  appearance  of  friendliness  at  any 
rate,  by  Monsieur  le  Marquis  d'Esgrignon  and  his  circle," 
continued  du  Croisier. 

"  I  do  not  know  how  we  are  going  to  compass  it,  but  you 
shall  be  received." 

"  I  wish  to  have  the  family  bound  over  by  a  surety  of  four 
hundred  thousand  francs,  and  by  a  written  document  stating 
the  nature  of  the  compromise,  so  as  to  keep  a  loaded  cannon 
pointed  at  its  heart." 

"We  agree,"  said  Chesnel,  without  admitting  that  the 
three  hundred  thousand  francs  was  in  his  possession  ;  "  but  the 
amount  must  be  deposited  with  a  third  party  and  returned  to 
the  family  after  your  election  and  repayment." 

"  No;  after  the  marriage  of  my  grand-niece,  Mademoiselle 
Duval.  She  will  very  likely  have  four  million  francs  some 
day  ;  the  reversion  of  our  property  (mine  and  my  wife's)  shall 
be  settled  upon  her  by  her  marriage-contract,  and  you  shall 
arrange  a  match  between  her  and  the  young  count." 

"  Never  !  " 

"JVever/"  repeated  du  Croisier,  quite  intoxicated  with 
triumph.  "  Good-night !  " 

"Idiot  that  I  am,"  thought  Chesnel,  "why  did  I  shrink 
from  a  lie  to  such  a  man  ?  " 

Du  Croisier  took  himself  off;  he  was  pleased  with  himself; 
he  had  enjoyed  Chesnel's  humiliation  ;  he  had  held  the  des- 
tinies of  a  proud  house,  the  representative  of  the  aristocracy  of 
the  province,  suspended  in  his  hand  ;  he  had  set  the  print  of 
his  heel  on  the  very  heart  of  the  d'Esgrignons ;  and,  finally, 
he  had  broken  off  the  whole  negotiation  on  the  score  of  his 
wounded  pride.  He  went  up  to  his  room,  leaving  his  wife 
alone  with  Chesnel.  In  his  intoxication,  he  saw  his  victory 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        263 

clear  before  him.  He  firmly  believed  that  the  three  hundred 
thousand  francs  had  been  squandered;  the  d'Esgrignons  must 
sell  or  mortgage  all  that  they  had  to  raise  the  money ;  the 
Assize  Court  was  inevitable  to  his  mind. 

An  affair  of  forgery  can  always  be  settled  out  of  court  in 
France  if  the  missing  amount  is  returned.  The  losers  by  the 
crime  are  usually  well-to-do,  and  have  no  wish  to  blight  an 
imprudent  man's  character.  But  du  Croisier  had  no  mind  to 
slacken  his  hold  until  he  knew  what  he  was  about.  He  medi- 
tated until  he  fell  asleep  on  the  magnificent  manner  in 
which  his  hopes  would  be  fulfilled  by  way  of  the  Assize 
Court  or  by  marriage.  The  murmur  of  voices  below,  the 
lamentations  of  Chesnel  and  Mme.  du  Croisier,  sounded 
sweet  in  his  ears. 

Mme.  du  Croisier  shared  Chesnel's  views  of  the  d'Esgrig- 
nons. She  was  a  deeply  religious  woman,  a  Royalist  at- 
tached to  the  noblesse  ;  the  interview  had  been  in  every  way 
a  cruel  shock  to  her  feelings.  She,  a  stanch  Royalist,  had 
heard  the  roaring  of  that  Liberalism  which,  in  her  director's 
opinion,  wished  to  crush  the  church.  The  Left  benches  for 
her  meant  the  popular  upheaval  and  the  scaffolds  of  1793. 

"What  would  your  uncle,  that  sainted  man  who  hears  us, 
say  to  this?  "  exclaimed  Chesnel.  Mme.  du  Croisier  made  no 
reply,  but  the  great  tears  rolled  down  her  cheeks. 

"  You  have  already  been  the  cause  of  one  poor  boy's  death ; 
his  mother  will  go  mourning  all  her  days,"  continued  Chesnel 
(he  saw  how  his  words  told,  but  he  would  have  struck  harder 
and  even  broken  this  woman's  heart  to  save  Victurnien). 
"  Do  you  want  to  kill  Mademoiselle  Armande,  for  she  would 
not  survive  the  dishonor  of  the  house  for  a  week  ?  Do  you 
wish  to  be  the  death  of  poor  Chesnel,  your  old  notary?  For 
I  shall  kill  the  count  in  prison  before  they  shall  bring  the 
charge  against  him,  and  take  my  own  life  afterward,  before 
they  shall  try  me  for  murder  in  an  Assize  Court." 

"That  is  enough  !  that  is  enough,  my  friend?     I  would  do 


264         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN, 

anything  to  put  a  stop  to  such  an  affair ;  but  I  never  knew 
Monsieur  du  Croisier's  real  character  until  a  few  minutes  ago. 
To  you  I  can  make  the  admission :  there  is  nothing  to  be 
done." 

"But  what  if  there  is?" 

"  I  would  give  half  the  blood  in  my  veins  that  it  were  so," 
said  she,  finishing  her  sentence  by  a  wistful  shake  of  the 
head. 

As  the  First  Consul,  beaten  on  the  field  of  Marengo  till  five 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  by  six  o'clock  saw  the  tide  of  battle 
turned  by  Desaix's  desperate  attack  and  Kellermann's  terrific 
charge,  so  Chesnel  in  the  midst  of  defeat  saw  the  beginnings 
of  victory.  No  one  but  a  Chesnel,  an  old  notary,  an  ex- 
steward  of  the  manor,  old  Maitre  Sorbier's  junior  clerk,  in  the 
sudden  flash  of  lucidity  which  comes  with  despair,  could  rise 
thus,  high  as  a  Napoleon  ;  nay,  higher.  This  was  not  Marengo, 
it  was  Waterloo,  and  the  Prussians  had  come  up ;  Chesnel  saw 
this,  and  was  determined  to  beat  them  off  the  field. 

"Madame,"  he  said,  "remember  that  I  have  been  your 
man  of  business  for  twenty  years;  remember  that  if  the 
d'Esgrignons  mean  the  honor  of  the  province,  you  represent 
the  honor  of  the  bourgeoisie ;  it  rests  with  you,  and  you  alone, 
to  save  the  ancient  house.  Now,  answer  me;  are  you  going 
to  allow  dishonor  to  fall  on  the  shade  of  your  dead  uncle,  on 
the  d'Esgrignons,  on  poor  Chesnel?  Do  you  want  to  kill 
Mademoiselle  Armande  weeping  yonder  ?  Or  do  you  wish  tot 
expiate  wrongs  done  to  others  by  a  deed  which  will  rejoice 
your  ancestors,  the  stewards  of  the  dukes  of  Alencon,  and 
bring  comfort  to  the  soul  of  our  dear  abbe.  If  he  could  rise 
from  his  grave,  he  would  command  you  to  do  this  thing  that 
I  beg  of  you  upon  my  knees." 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Mme.  du  Croisier. 

"Well.  Here  are  the  hundred  thousand  crowns,"  said 
Chesnel,  drawing  the  bundles  of  notes  from  his  pocket. 
"  Take  them,  and  there  will  be  an  end  of  it." 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         265 

"If  that  is  all,"  she  began,  "and  if  no  harm  can  come  of 
it  to  my  husband " 

"Nothing  but  good,"  Chesnel  replied.  "You  are  saving 
him  from  eternal  punishment  in  hell,  at  the  cost  of  a  slight 
disappointment  here  below." 

"He  will  not  be  compromised,  will  he?"  she  asked,  look- 
ing into  Chesnel's  face. 

Then  Chesnel  read  the  depths  of  the  poor  wife's  mind. 
Mme.  du  Croisier  was  hesitating  between  her  two  creeds ;  be- 
tween wifely  obedience  to  her  husband  as  laid  down  by  the 
church,  and  obedience  to  the  altar  and  the  throne.  Her 
husband,  in  her  eyes,  was  acting  wrongly,  but  she  dared  not 
blame  him  ;  she  would  fain  save  the  d'Esgrignons,  but  she 
was  loyal  to  her  husband's  interests. 

"Not  in  the  least,"  Chesnel  answered;  "your  old  notary 
swears  it  by  the  Holy  Gospels " 

He  had  nothing  left  to  lose  for  the  d'Esgrignons  but  his 
soul ;  he  risked  it  now  by  this  horrible  perjury,  but  Mme.  du 
Croisier  must  be  deceived,  there  was  no  other  choice  but 
death.  Without  losing  a  moment,  he  dictated  a  form  of  re- 
ceipt by  which  Mme.  du  Croisier  acknowledged  payment  of  a 
hundred  thousand  crowns  five  days  before  the  fatal  letter  of 
exchange  appeared ;  for  he  recollected  that  du  Croisier  was 
away  from  home,  superintending  improvements  on  his  wife's 
property  at  the  time. 

"  Now  swear  to  me  that  you  will  declare  before  the  examin- 
ing magistrate  that  you  received  the  money  on  that  date,"  he 
said,  when  Mme.  du  Croisier  had  taken  the  notes  and  he  held 
the  receipt  in  his  hand. 

"  It  will  be  a  lie,  will  it  not  ?  " 

"  Venial  sin,"  said  Chesnel. 

"  I  could  not  do  it  without  consulting  my  director,  Monsieur 
1'AbbS  Couturier." 

"Very  well,"  said  Chesnel,  "will  you  be  guided  entirely 
by  his  advice  in  this  affair?  " 


26(>         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

"I  promise  that." 

"  And  you  must  not  give  the  money  to  Monsieur  du  Croisier 
until  you  have  been  before  the  magistrate." 

"No.  Ah  !  God  give  me  strength  to  appear  in  a  court  of 
justice  and  maintain  a  lie  before  men  !  " 

Chesnel  kissed  Mme.  du  Croisier's  hand,  then  stood  upright 
and  majestic  as  one  of  the  prophets  that  Raphael  painted  in 
the  Vatican. 

"Your  uncle's  soul  is  thrilled  with  joy,"  he  said;  "you 
have  wiped  out  for  ever  the  wrong  that  you  did  by  marrying 
an  enemy  of  altar  and  throne" — words  that  made  a  lively 
impression  on  Mme.  du  Croisier's  timorous  mind. 

Then  Chesnel  all  at  once  bethought  himself  that  he  must 
make  sure  of  the  lady's  director,  the  Abbe  du  Couturier.  He 
knew  how  obstinately  devout  souls  can  work  for  the  triumph 
of  their  views  when  once  they  come  forward  for  their  side, 
and  wished  to  secure  the  concurrence  of  the  church  as  early 
as  possible.  So  he  went  to  the  Hotel  d'Esgrignon,  roused  up 
Mile.  Armande,  gave  her  an  account  of  that  night's  work,  and 
sped  her  to  fetch  the  bishop  himself  into  the  forefront  of  the 
battle. 

"Ah,  God  in  heaven!  Thou  must  save  the  house  d'Es- 
grignon! "  he  exclaimed,  as  he  went  slowly  home  again. 
"  The  affair  is  developing  now  into  a  fight  in  a  court  of  law. 
We  are  face  to  face  with  men  that  have  passions  and  interests 
of  their  own  ;  we  cannot  get  anything  out  of  them.  This  du 
Croisier  has  taken  advantage  of  the  public  prosecutor's  ab- 
sence ;  the  public  prosecutor  is  devoted  to  us,  but  since  the 
opening  of  the  Chambers  he  has  gone  to  Paris.  Now,  what 
can  they  have  done  to  get  round  his  deputy  ?  They  have  in- 
duced him  to  take  up  the  charge  without  consulting  his  chief. 
This  mystery  must  be  looked  into,  and  the  ground  surveyed 
to-morrow;  and  then,  perhaps,  when  I  have  unraveled  this 
web  of  theirs,  I  will  go  back  to  Paris  to  set  great  powers  at 
work  through  Madame  de  Maufrigneuse." 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        267 

So  he  reasoned,  poor,  aged,  clear-sighted  wrestler,  before 
he  lay  down  half  dead  with  bearing  the  weight  of  so  much 
emotion  and  fatigue.  And  yet,  before  he  fell  asleep,  he  ran 
a  searching  eye  over  the  list  of  magistrates,  taking  all  their 
secret  ambitions  into  account,  casting  about  for  ways  of  influ- 
encing them,  calculating  his  chances  in  the  coming  struggle. 
Chesnel's  prolonged  scrutiny  of  consciences,  given  in  a  con- 
densed form,  will  perhaps  serve  as  a  picture  of  the  judicial 
world  in  a  country  town. 

Magistrates  and  officials  generally  are  obliged  to  begin 
their  career  in  the  provinces;  judicial  ambition  there  fer- 
ments. At  the  outset  every  man  looks  toward  Paris;  they 
all  aspire  to  shine  in  the  vast  theatre  where  great  political 
causes  come  before  the  courts,  and  the  higher  branches  of  the 
legal  profession  are  closely  connected  with  the  palpitating 
interests  of  society. 

At  this  time  the  younger  men  were  full  of  Royalist  zeal 
against  the  enemies  of  the  Bourbons.  The  most  insignificant 
deputy  official  was  dreaming  of  conducting  a  prosecution,  and 
praying  with  all  his  might  for  one  of  those  political  cases  which 
bring  a  man's  zeal  into  prominence,  draw  the  attention  of  the 
higher  powers,  and  mean  advancement  for  King's  men.  Was 
there  a  member  of  any  official  staff  of  prosecuting  counsel 
who  could  hear  of  a  Bonapartist  conspiracy  breaking  out 
somewhere  else  without  a  feeling  of  envy?  Where  was  the 
man  that  did  not  burn  to  discover  a  Caron,  or  a  Berton,  or  a 
revolt  of  some  sort  ?  With  reasons  of  State,  and  the  necessity 
of  diffusing  the  monarchical  spirit  throughout  France  as  their 
basis,  and  a  fierce  ambition  stirred  up  whenever  party  spirit 
ran  high,  these  ardent  politicians  on  their  promotion  were 
lucid,  clear-sighted,  and  perspicacious.  They  kept  up  a  vigor- 
ous detective  system  throughout  the  kingdom ;  they  did  the 
work  of  spies,  and  urged  the  nation  along  a  pathway  of  obe- 
dience, from  which  it  had  no  business  to  swerve. 

Justice,  thus  informed  with  monarchical  enthusiasm,  atoned 


268         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

for  the  errors  of  the  ancient  parliaments,  and  walked,  perhaps, 
too  ostentatiously  hand  in  hand  with  religion.  There  was 
more  zeal  than  discretion  shown ;  but  justice  sinned  not  so 
much  in  the  direction  of  Machiavellism  as  by  giving  too  candid 
expression  to  its  views,  when  those  views  appeared  to  be  op- 
posed to  the  general  interests  of  a  country  which  must  be  put 
safely  out  of  reach  of  revolutions. 

Officials  of  both  complexions  were  to  be  found  in  the  court 
in  which  young  d'Esgrignon's  fate  depended.  M.  le  Presi- 
dent du  Ronceret  and  an  elderly  judge,  Blondet  by  name, 
represented  the  section  of  functionaries  shelved  for  good,  and 
resigned  to  stay  where  they  were ;  while  the  young  and  ambi- 
tious party  comprised  the  examining  magistrate,  M.  Camusot, 
and  his  deputy,  M.  Michu,  appointed  thrdugh  the  interest  of 
the  Cinq-Cygnes,  and  certain  of  promotion  to  the  Court  of 
Appeals  of  Paris  at  the  first  opportunity. 

President  du  Ronceret  held  a  permanent  post ;  it  was  im- 
possible to  turn  him  out.  The  aristocratic  party  declined  to 
give  him  what  he  considered  to  be  his  due,  socially  speaking; 
so  he  declared  for  the  bourgeoisie,  glossed  over  his  disappoint- 
ment with  the  name  of  independence,  and  failed  to  realize 
that  his  opinions  condemned  him  to  remain  a  president  of  a 
court  of  first  instance  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  Once  started 
on  this  track,  the  sequence  of  events  led  du  Ronceret  to  plaps 
his  hopes  of  advancement  on  the  triumph  of  du  Croisier  and 
the  Left.  He  was  in  no  better  odor  at  the  prefecture  than  at 
the  Court-Royal.  He  was  compelled  to  keep  on  good  terms 
with  the  authorities ;  the  Liberals  distrusted  him,  consequently 
he  belonged  to  neither  party.  He  was  obliged  to  resign  his 
chances  of  election  to  du  Croisier,  he  exercised  no  influence, 
and  played  a  secondary  part.  The  false  position  reacted  on 
his  character ;  he  was  soured  and  discontented  ;  he  was  tired 
of  political  ambiguity,  and  privately  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
come  forward  openly  as  leader  of  the  Liberal  party,  and  so  to 
strike  ahead  of  du  Croisier.  His  behavior  in  the  d'Essrisnon 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        269 

affair  was  the  first  step  in  this  direction.  To  begin  with,  he 
was  an  admirable  representative  of  that  section  of  the  middle- 
classes  which  allows  its  petty  passions  to  obscure  the  wider 
interests  of  the  country ;  a  class  of  crotchety  politicians,  up- 
holding the  government  one  day  and  opposing  it  the  next, 
compromising  every  cause  and  helping  none;  helpless  after 
they  have  done  the. mischief  till  they  set  about  brewing  more; 
unwilling  to  face  their  own  incompetence,  thwarting  authority 
while  professing  to  serve  it.  With  a  compound  of  arrogance 
and  humility  they  demand  of  the  people  more  submission  than 
kings  expect,  and  fret  their  souls  because  those  above  them 
are  not  brought  down  to  their  level,  as  if  greatness  could  be 
little,  as  if  power  existed  without  force. 

President  du  Ronceret  was  a  tall,  spare  man  with  a  reced- 
ing forehead  and  scanty,  auburn  hair.  He  was  wall-eyed,  his 
complexion  was  blotched,  his  lips  thin  and  hard,  his  scarcely 
audible  voice  came  out  like  the  husky  wheezings  of  asthma. 
He  had  for  a  wife  a  great,  solemn,  clumsy  creature,  tricked 
out  in  the  most  ridiculous  fashion,  and  outrageously  over- 
dressed. Mme.  la  Presidente  gave  herself  the  airs  of  a  queen  ; 
she  wore  vivid  colors,  and  always  appeared  at  balls  adorned 
with  the  turban,  dear  to  the  British  female,  and  lovingly  cul- 
tivated in  out-of-the-way  districts  in  France.  Each  of  the 
pair  had  an  income  of  four  or  five  thousand  francs,  which, 
with  the  president's  salary,  reached  a  total  of  some  twelve 
thousand.  In  spite  of  a  decided  tendency  to  parsimony, 
vanity  required  that  they  should  receive  one  evening  in  the 
week.  Du  Croisier  might  import  modern  luxury  into  the 
town,  M.  and  Mme.  du  Ronceret  were  faithful  to  the  old 
traditions.  They  had  always  lived  in  the  old-fashioned  house 
belonging  to  Mme.  du  Ronceret,  and  had  made  no  changes  in 
it  since  their  marriage.  The  house  stood  between  a  garden 
and  a  courtyard.  The  gray  old  gable  end,  with  one  window- 
in  each  story,  gave  upon  the  road.  High  walls  inclosed  the 
garden  and  the  yard,  but  the  space  taken  up  beneath  them  in 


270         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

the  garden  by  a  walk  shaded  with  chestnut  trees  was  filled  in 
the  yard  by  a  row  of  outbuildings.  An  old  rust-devoured 
iron  gate  in  the  garden  wall  balanced  the  yard  gateway,  a 
huge,  double-leaved  carriage  entrance  with  a  buttress  on 
either  side,  and  a  mighty  shell  on  the  top.  The  same  shell 
was  repeated  over  the  house-door. 

The  whole  place  was  gloomy,  close,  and  airless.  The  row 
of  iron-grated  openings  in  the  opposite  wall,  as  you  entered, 
reminded  you  of  prison  windows.  Every  passer-by  could 
look  in  through  the  railings  to  see  how  the  garden  grew  ;  the 
flowers  in  the  little  square  borders  never  seemed  to  thrive 
there. 

The  drawing-room  on  the  first  floor  was  lighted  by  a  single 
window  on  the  side  of  the  street  and  a  French  window  above 
a  flight  of  steps,  which  gave  upon  the  garden.  The  dining- 
room  on  the  other  side  of  the  great  antechamber,  with  its 
windows  also  looking  out  into  the  garden,  was  exactly  the 
same  size  as  the  drawing-room,  and  all  three  apartments  were 
in  harmony  with  the  general  air  of  gloom.  It  wearied  your 
eyes  to  look  at  the  ceilings  all  divided  up  by  huge  painted 
cross-beams  and  adorned  with  a  feeble  lozenge  pattern  or  a 
rosette  in  the  middle.  The  paint  was  old,  startling  in  tint, 
and  begrimed  with  smoke.  The  sun  had  faded  the  heavy 
silk  curtains  in  the  drawing-room  ;  the  old-fashioned  B^u- 
vais  tapestry  which  covered  the  white-painted  furniture  had 
lost  all  its  color  with  wear.  A  Louis  Quinze  clock  on  the 
mantel  stood  between  two  extravagant,  branched  sconces 
filled  with  yellow  wax  candles,  which  the  presidente  only 
lighted  on  occasions  when  the  old-fashioned  rock-crystal 
chandelier  emerged  from  its  green  wrapper.  Three  card- 
tables,  covered  with  threadbare  baize,  and  a  backgammon 
box,  sufficed  for  the  recreations  of  the  company  ;  and  Mme. 
du  Ronceret  treated  them  to  such  refreshments  as  cider, 
chestnuts,  pastry  puffs,  glasses  of  eau  sucree,  and  home-made 
orangeade.  For  some  time  past  she  had  made  a  practice  of 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         271 

giving  a  party  once  a  fortnight,  when  tea  and  some  pitiable 
attempts  at  pastry  appeared  to  grace  the  occasion. 

Once  a  quarter  the  du  Roncerets  gave  a  grand  three-course 
dinner,  which  made  a  great  sensation  in  the  town,  a  dinner 
served  up  on  execrable  ware,  but  prepared  with  the  science 
for  which  the  provincial  cook  is  remarkable.  It  was  a  Gar- 
gantuan repast,  which  lasted  for  six  whole  hours,  and  by  abund- 
ance the  president  tried  to  vie  with  du  Croisier's  elegance. 

And  so  du  Ronceret's  life  and  its  accessories  were  just  what 
might  have  been  expected  from  his  character  and  his  false 
position.  He  felt  dissatisfied  at  home  without  precisely 
knowing  what  was  the  matter ;  but  he  dared  not  go  to  any 
expense  to  change  existing  conditions,  and  was  only  too  glad 
to  put  by  seven  or  eight  thousand  francs  every  year,  so  as  to 
leave  his  son  Fabien  a  handsome  private  fortune.  Fabien  du 
Ronceret  had  no  mind  for  the  magistracy,  the  bar,  or  the 
civil  service,  and  his  pronounced  turn  for  doing  nothing  drove 
his  parent  to  despair. 

On  this  head  there  was  rivalry  between  the  president  and 
the  vice-president,  old  M.  Blondet.  M.  Blondet,  for  a  long 
time  past,  had  been  sedulously  cultivating  an  acquaintance 
between  his  son  and  the  Blandureau  family.  The  Blandureaus 
were  well-to-do  linen  manufacturers,  with  an  only  daughter, 
and  it  was  on  this  daughter  that  the  president  had  fixed  his 
choice  of  a  wife  for  Fabien.  Now,  Joseph  Blondet's  marriage 
with  Mile.  Blandureau  depended  on  his  nomination  to  the 
post  which  his  father,  old  Blondet,  hoped  to  obtain  for  him 
when  he  himself  should  retire.  But  President  du  Ronceret, 
in  underhand  ways,  was  thwarting  the  old  man's  plans,  and 
working  indirectly  upon  the  Blandureaus.  Indeed,  if  it  had 
not  been  for  this  affair  of  young  d'Esgrignon's,  the  astute 
president  might  have  cut  them  out,  father  and  son,  for  their 
rivals  were  very  much  richer. 

Before  the  Revolution  broke  out,  Blondet  senior  had  been 
a  barrister  j  afterward  he  became  the  public  accuser,  and  one 


272         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

of  the  mildest  of  those  formidable  functionaries.  Goodman 
Blondet,  as  they  used  to  call  him,  deadened  the  force  of  the 
new  doctrines  by  acquiescing  in  them  all,  and  putting  none 
of  them  in  practice.  He  had  been  obliged  to  send  one  or 
two  nobles  to  prison  ;  but  his  further  proceedings  were  marked 
with  such  deliberation,  that  he  brought  them  through  to  the 
9th  Thermidor  with  a  dexterity  which  won  respect  for  him  on 
all  sides.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Goodman  Blondet  ought  to 
have  been  president  of  the  Tribunal,  but  when  the  courts  of 
law  were  reorganized  he  had  been  set  aside  ;  Napoleon's  aver- 
sion from  Republicans  was  apt  to  reappear  in  the  smallest 
appointments  under  his  government.  The  qualification  of 
ex-public  accuser,  written  in  the  margin  of  the  list  against 
Blondet's  name,  set  the  Emperor  inquiring  of  Cambaceres 
whether  there  might  not  be  some  scion  of  an  ancient  parlia- 
mentary stock  to  appoint  instead.  The  consequence  was  that 
du  Ronceret,  whose  father  had  been  a  councilor  of  parliament, 
was  nominated  to  the  presidency ;  but,  the  Emperor's  repug- 
nance notwithstanding,  Cambaceres  allowed  Blondet  to  remain 
on  the  bench,  saying  that  the  old  barrister  was  one  of  the  best 
juri-consuls  in  France. 

Blondet's  talents,  his  knowledge  of  the  old  law  of  the  land 
and  subsequent  legislation,  should  by  rights  have  brought  him 
far  in  his  profession  ;  but  he  had  this  much  in  common  with 
some  few  great  spirits :  he  entertained  a  prodigious  contempt 
for  his  own  special  knowledge,  and  reserved  all  his  preten- 
tions,  leisure,  and  capacity  for  a  second  pursuit  unconnected 
with  the  law.  To  this  pursuit  he  gave  his  almost  exclusive 
attention.  The  good  man  was  passionately  fond  of  garden- 
ing. He  was  in  correspondence  with  some  of  the  most  cele- 
brated amateurs ;  it  was  his  ambition  to  create  new  species ; 
he  took  an  interest  in  botanical  discoveries,  and  lived,  in 
short,  in  the  world  of  flowers.  Like  all  florists,  he  had  a 
predilection  for  one  particular  plant;  the  pelargonium  was  his 
especial  favorite.  The  court,  the  cases  that  came  before  it, 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        273 

and  his  outward  life  were  as  nothing  to  him  compared  with 
the  inward  life  of  fancies  and  abundant  emotions  which  the 
old  man  led.  He  fell  more  and  more  in  love  with  his  flower- 
seraglio;  and  the  pains  which  he  bestowed  on  his  garden,  the 
sweet  round  of  the  labors  of  the  months,  held  Goodman  Blon- 
det  fast  in  his  greenhouse.  But  for  that  hobby  he  would  have 
been  a  deputy  under  the  Empire,  and  shone  conspicuous 
beyond  a  doubt  in  the  Corps  Legislatif. 

His  marriage  was  the  second  cause  of  his  obscurity.  As  a 
man  of  forty,  he  was  rash  enough  to  marry  a  girl  of  eighteen, 
by  whom  he  had  a  son  named  Joseph  in  the  first  year  of  their 
marriage.  Three  years  afterward  Mme.  Blondet,  then  the 
prettiest  woman  in  the  town,  inspired  in  the  prefect  of  the 
department  a  passion  which  ended  only  with  her  death.  The 
prefect  was  the  father  of  her  second  son,  Emile ;  the  whole 
town  knew  this,  old  Blondet  himself  knew  it.  The  wife  who 
might  have  roused  her  husband's  ambition,  who  might  have 
won  him  away  from  his  flowers,  positively  encouraged  the 
judge  in  his  botanical  tastes.  She  no  more  cared  to  leave  the 
place  than  the  prefect  cared  to  leave  his  prefecture  so  long  as 
his  mistress  lived. 

Blondet  felt  himself  unequal  at  his  age  to  a  contest  with  a 
young  wife.  He  sought  consolation  in  his  greenhouse,  and 
engaged  a  very  pretty  servant-maid  to  assist  him  to  tend  his 
ever-changing  bevy  of  beauties.  So  while  the  judge  potted, 
pricked  out,  watered,  layered,  slipped,  blended,  and  induced 
his  flowers  to  break,  Mme.  Blondet  spent  his  substance  on  the 
dress  and  finery  in  which  she  shone  at  the  prefecture.  One 
interest  alone  had  power  to  draw  her  away  from  the  tender 
care  of  a  romantic  affection  which  the  town  came  to  admire 
in  the  end ;  and  this  interest  was  Emile's  education.  The 
child  of  love  was  a  bright  and  pretty  boy,  while  Joseph  was 
no  less  heavy  and  plain -featured.  The  old  judge,  blinded  by 
paternal  affection,  loved  Joseph  as  his  wife  loved  Emile. 

For  a  dozen  years  M.   Blondet  bore  his  lot  with  perfect 
18 


274         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

resignation.  He  shut  his  eyes  to  his  wife's  intrigue  with  a 
dignified,  well-bred  composure,  quite  in  the  style  of  an  eigh- 
teenth-century great  lord ;  but,  like  all  men  with  a  taste  for  a 
quiet  life,  he  could  cherish  a  profound  dislike,  and  he  hated 
the  younger  son.  When  his  wife  died,  therefore,  in  1818,  he 
turned  the  intruder  out  of  the  house,  and  packed  him  off  to 
Paris  to  study  law  on  an  allowance  of  twelve  hundred  francs 
for  all  resource,  nor  could  any  cry  of  distress  extract  another 
penny  from  his  purse.  Emile  Blondet  would  have  gone 
under  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  real  father. 

M.  Blondet's  house  was  one  of  the  prettiest  in  the  town.  It 
stood  almost  opposite  the  prefecture,  with  a  neat  little  court 
in  front.  A  row  of  old-fashioned  iron  railings  between  two 
brickwork  piers  inclosed  it  from  the  street ;  and  a  low  wall, 
also  of  brick,  with  a  second  row  of  railings  along  the  top,  con- 
nected the  piers  with  the  neighboring  house.  The  little  court, 
a  space  about  sixty  feet  in  width  by  one  hundred  and  twenty 
in  length,  was  cut  in  two  by  a  brick  pathway  which  ran  from 
the  gate  to  the  house  door  between  a  border  on  either  side. 
Those  borders  were  always  renewed  ;  at  every  season  of  the 
year  they  exhibited  a  successful  show  of  blossom,  to  the 
admiration  of  the  public.  All  along  the  back  of  the  garden- 
beds  a  quantity  of  climbing  plants  grew  up  and  covered  the 
walls  of  the  neighboring  houses  with  a  magnificent  mantle; 
the  brickwork  piers  were  hidden  in  clusters  of  honeysuckle; 
and,  to  crown  all,  in  a  couple  of  terra-cotta  vases  at  the  sum- 
mit, a  pair  of  acclimatized  cacti  displayed  to  the  astonished 
eyes  of  the  ignorant  those  thick  leaves  bristling  with  spiny 
defenses  which  seem  to  be  due  to  some  plant  disease. 

It  was  a  plain-looking  house,  built  of  brick,  with  brickwork 
arches  above  the  windows,  and  bright  green  Venetian  blinds 
to  make  it  gay.  Through  the  glass  door  you  could  look 
straight  across  the  house  to  the  opposite  glass  door,  at  the  end 
of  a  long  passage,  and  down  the  central  alley  in  the  garden 
beyond ;  while  through  the  windows  of  the  dining-room  and 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        275 

drawing-room,  which  extended,  like  the  hall,  from  back  to 
front  of  the  house,  you  could  often  catch  further  glimpses  of 
the  flower-beds  in  a  garden  of  about  two  acres  in  extent.  Seen 
from  the  road,  the  brickwork  harmonized  with  the  fresh 
flowers  and  shrubs,  for  two  centuries  had  overlaid  it  with 
mosses,  and  green  and  russet  tints.  No  one  could  pass  through 
the  town  without  falling  in  love  with  a  house  with  such  charm- 
ing surroundings,  so  covered  with  flowers  and  mosses  to  the 
roof-ridge,  where  two  pigeons  of  glazed  crockery-ware  were 
perched  by  way  of  ornament. 

M.  Blondet  possessed  an  income  of  about  four  thousand 
livres  derived  from  land,  beside  the  old  house  in  the  town. 
He  meant  to  avenge  his  wrongs  legitimately  enough.  He 
would  leave  his  house,  his  lands,  his  seat  on  the  bench  to  his 
son  Joseph,  and  the  whole  town  knew  what  he  meant  to  do. 
He  had  made  a  will  in  that  son's  favor ;  he  had  gone  as  far  as 
the  Code  will  permit  a  man  to  go  in  the  way  of  disinheriting 
one  child  to  benefit  another ;  and  what  was  more,  he  had  been 
putting  by  money  for  the  past  fifteen  years  to  enable  his  lout 
of  a  son  to  buy  back  from  Emile  that  portion  of  his  father's 
estate  which  could  not  legally  be  taken  away  from  him. 

Emile  Blondet,  thus  turned  adrift,  had  contrived  to  gain 
distinction  in  Paris,  but  so  far  it  was  rather  a  name  than  a 
practical  result.  Emile's  indolence,  recklessnness,  and  happy- 
go-lucky  ways  drove  his  real  father  to  despair ;  and  when  that 
father  died,  a  half-ruined  man,  turned  out  of  office  by  one  of 
the  political  reactions  so  frequent  under  the  Restoration,  it 
was  with  a  mind  uneasy  as  to  the  future  of  a  man  endowed 
with  the  most  brilliant  qualities. 

Emile  Blondet  found  support  in  a  friendship  with  a  Mile. 
de  Troisville,  whom  he  had  known  before  her  marriage  with 
the  Comte  de  Montcornet.  His  mother  was  living  when  the 
Troisvilles  came  back  after  the  emigration ;  she  was  related  to 
the  family,  distantly  it  is  true,  but  the  connection  was  close 
enough  to  allow  her  to  introduce  Emile  to  the  house.  She, 


276         fHE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

poor  woman,  foresaw  the  future.  She  knew  that  when  she 
died  her  son  would  lose  both  mother  and  father,  a  thought 
which  made  death  doubly  bitter,  so  she  tried  to  interest  others 
in  him.  She  encouraged  the  liking  that  sprang  up  between 
Emile  and  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  house  of  Troisville  ;  but 
while  the  liking  was  exceedingly  strong  on  the  young  lady's 
part,  a  marriage  was  out  of  the  question.  It  was  a  romance 
on  the  pattern  of  "Paul  and  Virginia."  Mme.  Blondet  did 
what  she  could  to  teach  her  son  to  look  to  the  Troisvilles,  to 
found  a  lasting  attachment  on  a  children's  game  of  "  make-be- 
lieve" love,  which  was  bound  to  end  as  boy-and-girl  romances 
usually  do.  When  Mile,  de  Troisville's  marriage  with  Gen- 
eral Montcornet  was  announced,  Mme.  Blondet,  a  dying 
woman,  went  to  the  bride  and  solemnly  implored  her  never 
to  abandon  Emile,  and  to  use  her  influence  for  him  in 
society  in  Paris,  whither  the  general's  fortune  summoned  her 
to  shine. 

Luckily  for  Emile,  he  was  able  to  make  his  own  way.  He 
made  his  appearance,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  as  one  of  the 
masters  of  modern  literature ;  and  met  with  no  less  success  in 
the  society  into  which  he  was  launched  by  the  father  who  at 
first  could  afford  to  bear  the  expense  of  the  young  man's 
extravagance.  Perhaps  Emile's  precocious  celebrity  and  the 
good  figure  that  he  made  strengthened  the  bonds  of  his  friend- 
ship with  the  countess.  Perhaps  Mme.  de  Montcornet,  with 
the  Russian  blood  in  her  veins  (her  mother  was  the  daughter 
of  the  Princess  Scherbelloff),  might  have  cast  off  the  friend 
of  her  childhood  if  he  had  been  a  poor  man  struggling  with 
all  his  might  among  the  difficulties  which  beset  a  man  of 
letters  in  Paris ;  but  by  the  time  that  the  real  strain  of  Emile's 
adventurous  life  began,  their  attachment  was  unalterable  on 
either  side.  He  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  leading  lights 
of  journalism  when  young  d'Esgrignon  met  him  at  his  first 
supper-party  in  Paris  ;  his  acknowledged  position  in  the  world 
of  letters  was  very  high,  and  he  towered  above  his  reputation. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN        277 

Goodman  Blondet  had  not  the  faintest  conception  of  the 
power  which  the  Constitutional  Government  had  given  to  the 
press ;  nobody  ventured  to  talk  in  his  presence  of  the  son  of 
whom  he  refused  to  hear.  And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  he 
knew  nothing  of  Emile  whom  he  had  cursed  and  Emile's 
greatness. 

Old  Blondet's  integrity  was  as  deeply  rooted  in  him  as  his 
passion  for  flowers ;  he  knew  nothing  but  law  and  botany. 
He  would  have  interviews  with  litigants,  listen  to  them,  chat 
with  them,  and  show  them  his  flowers  ;  he  would  accept  rare 
seeds  from  them ;  but  once  on  the  bench,  no  judge  on  earth 
was  more  impartial.  Indeed,  his  manner  of  proceeding  was 
so  well  known  that  litigants  never  went  near  him  except  to 
hand  over  some  document  which  might  enlighten  him  in  the 
performance  of  his  duty,  and  nobody  tried  to  throw  dust  in 
his  eyes.  With  his  learning,  his  lights,  and  his  way  of  hold- 
ing his  real  talents  cheap,  he  was  so  indispensable  to  President 
du  Ronceret,  that,  matrimonial  schemes  apart,  that  functionary 
would  have  done  all  that  he  could,  in  an  underhand  way,  to 
prevent  the  vice-president  from  retiring  in  favor  of  his  son. 
If  the  learned  old  man  left  the  bench,  the  president  would  be 
utterly  unable  to  do  without  him. 

Goodman  Blondet  did  not  know  that  it  was  in  Emile's 
power  to  fulfill  all  his  wishes  in  a  few  hours.  The  simplicity 
of  his  life  was  worthy  of  one  of  Plutarch's  men.  In  the  evening 
he  looked  over  his  cases ;  next  morning  he  worked  among  his 
flowers;  and  all  day  long  he  gave  decisions  on  the  bench. 
The  pretty  maid-servant,  now  of  ripe  age  and  wrinkled  like  an 
Easter  pippin,  looked  after  the  house,  and  they  lived  accord- 
ing to  the  established  customs  of  the  strictest  parsimony. 
Mile.  Cadot  always  carried  the  keys  of  her  cupboards  and 
fruit-loft  about  with  her.  She  was  indefatigable.  She  went 
to  market  herself,  she  cooked  and  dusted  and  swept,  and 
never  missed  mass  of  a  morning.  To  give  some  idea  of  the 
domestic  life  of  the  household,  it  will  be  enough  to  remark 


278         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

that  the  father  and  son  never  ate  fruit  till  it  was  beginning  to 
spoil,  because  Mile.  Cadot  always  brought  out  anything  that 
would  not  keep.  No  one  in  the  house  ever  tasted  the  luxury 
of  new  bread,  and  all  the  fast  days  in  the  kalendar  were  punc- 
tually observed.  The  gardener  was  put  on  rations  like  a 
soldier;  the  elderly  Valideh  always  kept  an  eye  upon  him. 
And  she,  for  her  part,  was  so  deferentially  treated,  that  she 
took  her  meals  with  the  family,  and  in  consequence  was  con- 
tinually trotting  to  and  fro  between  the  kitchen  and  the  parlor 
at  breakfast  and  dinner  time. 

Mile.  Blandureau's  parents  had  consented  to  her  marriage 
with  Joseph  Blondet  upon  one  condition — the  penniless  and 
briefless  barrister  must  be  an  assistant  judge.  So,  with  the 
desire  of  fitting  his  son  to  fill  the  position,  old  M.  Blondet 
racked  his  brains  to  hammer  the  law  into  his  son's  head  by 
dint  of  lessons,  so  as  to  make  a  cut-and-dried  lawyer  of  him. 
As  for  Blondet  junior,  he  spent  almost  every  evening  at  the 
Blandureaus'  house,  to  which  also  young  Fabien  du  Ronceret 
had  been  admitted  since  his  return,  without  raising  the 
slightest  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  father  or  son. 

Everything  in  this  life  of  theirs  was  measured  by  an  accuracy 
worthy  of  Gerard  Dow's  "Money  Changer;  "  not  a  grain  of 
salt  too  much,  not  a  single  profit  foregone;  but  the  economical 
principles  by  which  it  was  regulated  were  relaxed  in  favor  of 
the  greenhouse  and  garden.  "  The  garden  was  the  master's 
craze,"  Mile.  Cadot  used  to  say.  The  master's  blind  fond- 
ness for  Joseph  was  not  a  craze  in  her  eyes ;  she  shared  the 
father's  predilection  ;  she  pampered  Joseph ;  she  darned  his 
stockings ;  and  would  have  been  better  pleased  if  the  money 
spent  on  the  garden  had  been  put  by  for  Joseph's  benefit. 

That  garden  was  kept  in  marvelous  order  by  a  single  man ; 
the  paths,  covered  with  river-sand,  continually  turned  over 
with  the  rake,  meandered  among  the  borders  full  of  the  rarest 
flowers.  Here  were  all  kinds  of  color  and  scent,  here  were 
lizards  on  the  walls,  legions  of  little  flower-pots  standing  out 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        279 

in  the  sun,  regiments  of  forks  and  hoes,  and  a  host  of  innocent 
things,  a  combination  of  pleasant  results  to  justify  the  gar- 
dener's charming  hobby. 

At  the  end  of  the  greenhouse  the  judge  had  set  up  a  grand 
stand,  an  amphitheatre  of  benches  to  hold  some  five  or  six 
thousand  pelargoniums  in  pots — a  splendid  and  famous  show. 
People  came  to  see  his  geraniums  in  flower,  not  only  from  the 
neighborhood,  but  even  from  the  departments  round  about. 
The  Empress  Marie  Louise,  passing  through  the  town,  had 
honored  the  curiously  kept  greenhouse  with  a  visit ;  so  much 
was  she  impressed  with  the  sight  that  she  spoke  of  it  to  Napo- 
leon, and  the  old  judge  received  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor.  But  as  the  learned  gardener  never  mingled  in  society 
at  all,  and  went  nowhere  except  to  the  Blandureaus,  he  had 
no  suspicion  of  the  president's  underhand  manoeuvres ;  and 
others  who  could  see  the  president's  intentions  were  far  too 
much  afraid  of  him  to  interfere  or  to  warn  the  inoffensive 
Blondets. 

As  for  Michu,  that  young  man  with  his  powerful  connections 
gave  much  more  thought  to  making  himself  agreeable  to  the 
women  in  the  upper  social  circles  to  which  he  was  introduced 
by  the  Cinq-Cygnes,  than  to  the  extremely  simple  business  of 
a  provincial  Tribunal.  With  his  independent  means  (he  had 
an  income  of  twelve  thousand  livres),  he  was  courted  by 
mothers  of  daughters,  and  led  a  frivolous  life.  He  did  just 
enough  at  the  Tribunal  to  satisfy  his  conscience,  much  as  a 
schoolboy  does  his  exercises,  saying  ditto  on  all  occasions, 
with  a  "Yes,  dear  president."  But  underneath  the  appear- 
ance of  indifference  lurked  the  unusual  powers  of  the  Paris  law 
student  who  had  distinguished  himself  as  one  of  the  staff  of 
prosecuting  counsel  before  he  came  to  the  provinces.  He 
was  accustomed  to  taking  broad  views  of  things ;  he  could  do 
rapidly  what  the  president  and  Blondet  could  only  do  after 
much  thinking,  and  very  often  solved  knotty  points  for  them. 
In  delicate  conjunctures  the  president  and  vice-president  took 


280         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

counsel  with  their  junior,  confided  thorny  questions  to  him, 
and  never  failed  to  wonder  at  the  readiness  with  which  he 
brought  back  a  task  in  which  old  Blondet  found  nothing  to 
criticise.  Michu  was  sure  of  the  influence  of  the  most  crabbed 
aristocrats,  and  he  was  young  and  rich ;  he  lived,  therefore, 
above  the  level  of  departmental  intrigues  and  pettinesses.  He 
was  an  indispensable  man  at  picnics,  he  frisked  with  young 
ladies  and  paid  court  to  their  mothers,  he  danced  at  balls,  he 
gambled  like  a  capitalist.  In  short,  he  played  his  part  of 
young  lawyer  of  fashion  to  admiration ;  without,  at  the  same 
time,  compromising  his  dignity,  which  he  knew  how  to  assert 
at  the  right  moment  like  a  man  of  spirit.  He  won  golden 
opinions  by  the  manner  in  which  he  threw  himself  into  pro- 
vincial ways,  without  criticising  them ;  and  for  these  reasons, 
every  one  endeavored  to  make  his  time  of  exile  endurable. 

The  public  prosecutor  was  a  lawyer  of  the  highest  ability  ; 
he  had  taken  the  plunge  into  political  life,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  speakers  on  the  ministerialist  benches. 
The  president  stood  in  awe  of  him ;  if  he  had  not  been  away 
in  Paris  at  the  time,  no  steps  would  have  been  taken  against 
Victurnien ;  his  dexterity,  his  experience  of  business,  would 
have  prevented  the  whole  affair.  At  that  moment,  however, 
he  was  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  and  the  president  and  du 
Croisier  had  taken  advantage  of  his  absence  to  weave  their 
plot,  calculating,  with  a  certain  ingenuity,  that  if  once  the 
law  stepped  in,  and  the  matter  was  noised  abroad,  things 
would  have  gone  too  far  to  be  remedied. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  staff  of  prosecuting  counsel  in  any 
Tribunal,  at  that  particular  time,  would  have  taken  up  a 
charge  of  forgery  against  the  eldest  son  of  one  of  the  noblest 
houses  in  France  without  going  into  the  case  at  great  length, 
and  a  special  reference,  in  all  probability,  .to  the  attorney- 
general.  In  such  a  case  as  this,  the  authorities  and  the 
Government  would  have  tried  endless  ways  of  compromising 
and  hushing  up  an  affair  which  might  send  an  imprudent 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         281 

young  man  to  the  hulks.  They  would  very  likely  have  done 
the  same  for  a  Liberal  family  in  a  prominent  position,  so  long 
as  the  Liberals  were  not  too  openly  hostile  to  the  throne  and 
the  altar.  So  du  Croisier's  charge  and  the  young  count's 
arrest  had  not  been  very  easy  to  manage.  The  president  and 
du  Croisier  had  compassed  their  ends  in  the  following  manner: 

M.  Sauvager,  a  young  Royalist  barrister,  had  reached  the 
position  of  deputy  public  prosecutor  by  dint  of  subservience 
to  the  Ministry.  In  the  absence  of  his  chief  he  was  head  of 
the  staff  of  counsel  for  prosecution,  and,  consequently,  it  fell 
to  him  to  take  up  the  charge  made  by  du  Croisier.  Sauvager 
was  a  self-made  man  ;  he  had  nothing  but  his  stipend  ;  and 
for  that  reason  the  authorities  reckoned  upon  some  one  who 
had  everything  to  gain  by  devotion.  The  president  now  ex- 
ploited the  position.  No  sooner  was  the  document  with  the 
alleged  forgery  in  du  Croisier's  hands,  than  Mme.  la  Presi- 
dente  du  Ronceret,  prompted  by  her  spouse,  had  a  long  con- 
versation with  M.  Sauvager.  In  the  course  of  it  she  pointed 
out  the  uncertainties  of  a  career  in  the  magistrature  dcbout 
compared  with  the  magistrature  assist,  and  the  advantages  of 
the  bench  over  the  bar  ;  she  showed  how  a  freak  on  the  part 
of  some  official,  or  a  single  false  step,  might  ruin  a  man's 
career. 

"  If  you  are  conscientious  and  give  your  conclusions 
against  the  powers  that  be,  you  are  lost,"  continued  she. 
"  Now,  at  this  moment,  you  might  turn  your  position  to 
account  to  make  a  fine  match  that  would  put  you  above  un- 
lucky chances  for  the  rest  of  your  life  ;  you  may  marry  a  wife 
with  fortune  sufficient  to  land  you  on  the  bench,  in  the 
magistrature  assist.  There  is  a  fine  chance  for  you.  Mon- 
sieur du  Croisier  will  never  have  any  children ;  everybody 
knows  why.  His  money,  and  his  wife's  as  well,  will  go  to  his 
niece,  Mademoiselle  Duval.  Monsieur  Duval  is  an  iron- 
master, his  purse  is  tolerably  filled,  to  begin  with,  and  his 
father  is  still  alive,  and  has  a  little  property  beside.  The 


282         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRV   TOWN. 

father  and  son  have  a  million  of  francs  between  them  ;  they 
will  double  it  with  du  Croisier's  help,  for  du  Croisier  has 
business  connections  among  great  capitalists  and  manufac- 
turers in  Paris.  Monsieur  and  Madame  Duval  the  younger 
would  be  certain  to  give  their  daughter  to  a  suitor  brought 
forward  by  du  Croisier,  for  he  is  sure  to  leave  two  fortunes  to 
his  niece ;  and,  in  all  probability,  he  will  settle  the  reversion 
of  his  wife's  property  upon  Mademoiselle  Duval  in  the 
marriage-contract,  for  Madame  du  Croisier  has  no  kin.  You 
know  how  du  Croisier  hates  the  d'Esgrignons.  Do  him  a 
service,  be  his  man,  take  up  this  charge  of  forgery  which  he  is 
going  to  make  against  young  d'Esgrignon,  and  follow  up  the 
proceedings  at  once  without  consulting  the  public  prosecutor 
at  Paris.  And,  then,  pray  heaven  that  the  Ministry  dis- 
misses you  for  doing  your  office  impartially,  in  spite  of  the 
powers  that  be  ;  for  if  they  do,  your  fortune  is  made  !  You 
will  have  a  charming  wife  and  thirty  thousand  francs  a  year 
with  her,  to  say  nothing  of  four  millions  of  expectations  in 
ten  years'  time." 

In  two  evenings  Sauvager  was  talked  over.  Both  he  and 
the  president  kept  the  affair  a  secret  from  old  Blondet,  from 
Michu,  and  from  the  second  member  of  the  staff  of  prosecuting 
counsel.  Feeling  sure  of  Blondet's  impartiality  on  a  question 
of  fact,  the  president  made  certain  of  a  majority  without 
counting  Camusot.  And  now  Camusot's  unexpected  defec- 
tion had  thrown  everything  out.  What  the  president  wanted 
was  a  committal  for  trial  before  the  public  prosecutor  got  warn- 
ing. How  if  Camusot  or  the  second  counsel  for  the  prosecu- 
tion should  send  word  to  Paris  ? 

And  here  some  portion  of  Camusot's  private  history  may 
perhaps  explain  how  it  came  to  pass  that  Chesnel  took  it  for 
granted  that  the  examining  magistrate  would  be  on  the  d'Es- 
grignons' side,  and  how  he  had  the  boldness  to  tamper  in  the 
open  street  with  that  representative  of  justice. 

Camusot's  father,  a  well-known  silk  mercer  in  the  Rue  des 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        283 

Bourdonnais,  was  ambitious  for  the  only  son  of  his  first  mar- 
riage, and  brought  him  up  to  the  law.  When  Camusot  junior 
took  a  wife,  he  gained  with  her  the  influence  of  an  usher  of 
the  royal  cabinet,  back-stairs  influence,  it  is  true,  but  still 
sufficient,  since  it  had  brought  him  his  first  appointment  as 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  the  second  as  examining  magistrate. 
At  the  time  of  his  marriage,  his  father  only  settled  an  income 
of  six  thousand  francs  upon  him  (the  amount  of  his  mother's 
fortune,  which  he  could  legally  claim),  and  as  Mile.  Thirion 
brought  him  no  more  than  twenty  thousand  francs  as  her 
portion,  the  young  couple  knew  the  hardships  of  hidden  pov- 
erty. The  salary  of  a  provincial  justice  of  the  peace  does  not 
exceed  fifteen  hundred  francs,  while  an  examining  magistrate's 
stipend  is  augmented  by  something  like  a  thousand  francs,  be- 
cause his  position  entails  expenses  and  extra  work.  The  post, 
therefore,  is  much  coveted,  though  it  is  not  permanent,  and 
the  work  is  heavy,  and  that  was  why  Mme.  Camusot  had  just 
scolded  her  husband  for  allowing  the  president  to  read  his 
thoughts. 

Marie-Cecile-Amelie  Thirion,  after  three  years  of  marriage, 
perceived  the  blessing  of  heaven  upon  it  in  the  regularity  of 
two  auspicious  events — the  births  of  a  girl  and  a  boy ;  but  she 
prayed  to  be  less  blessed  in  future.  A  few  more  of  such  bless- 
ings would  turn  straitened  means  into  distress.  M.  Camusot's 
father's  money  was  not  likely  to  come  to  them  for  a  long 
time  ;  and,  rich  as  he  was,  he  would  scarcely  leave  more  than 
eight  or  ten  thousand  francs  a  year  to  each  of  his  children, 
four  in  number,  for  he  had  been  married  twice.  And  beside, 
by  the  time  that  all  '•  expectations,"  as  matchmakers  call 
them,  were  realized,  would  not  the  magistrate  have  children 
of  his  own  to  settle  in  life  ?  Any  one  can  imagine  the  situa- 
tion for  a  little  woman  with  plenty  of  sense  and  determination, 
and  Mme.  Camusot  was  such  a  woman.  She  did  not  refrain 
from  meddling  in  matters  judicial.  She  had  far  too  strong  a 
sense  of  the  gravity  of  a  false  step  in  her  husband's  career. 


284         THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

She  was  the  only  child  of  an  old  servant  of  Louis  XVIII., 
a  valet  who  had  followed  his  master  in  his  wanderings  in 
Italy,  Courland,  and  England,  till  after  the  Restoration  the 
King  rewarded  him  with  the  one  place  that  he  could  fill  at 
Court,  and  made  him  usher  by  rotation  to  the  royal  cabinet. 
So  in  Amelie's  home  there  had  been,  as  it  were,  a  sort  of  re- 
flection of  the  Court.  Thirion  used  to  tell  her  about  the 
lords,  and  ministers,  and  great  men  whom  he  announced  and 
introduced  and  saw  passing  to  and  fro.  The  girl,  brought  up 
at  the  gates  of  the  Tuileries,  had  caught  some  tincture  of  the 
maxims  practiced  there,  and  adopted  the  dogma  of  passive 
obedience  to  authority.  She  had  sagely  judged  that  her  hus- 
band, by  ranging  himself  on  the  side  of  the  d'Esgrignons, 
would  find  favor  with  Mme.  la  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse, 
and  with  two  powerful  families  on  whose  influence  with  the 
King  the  Sieur  Thirion  could  depend  at  an  opportune  moment. 
Camusot  might  get  an  appointment  at  the  first  opportunity 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  Paris,  and  afterward  at  Paris  itself. 
That  promotion,  dreamed  of  and  longed  for  at  every  moment, 
was  certain  to  have  a  salary  of  six  thousand  francs  attached  to 
it,  as  well  as  the  alleviation  of  living  in  her  own  father's 
house,  or  under  the  Camusots'  roof,  and  all  the  advantages  of 
a  father's  fortune  on  either  side.  If  the  adage  :  "  Out  of  sight 
is  out  of  mind,"  holds  good  of  most  women,  it  is  particularly 
true  where  family  feeling  or  royal  or  ministerial  patronage  is 
concerned.  The  personal  attendants  of  kings  prosper  at  all 
times;  you  take  an  interest  in  a  man,  be  it  only  a  man  in 
livery,  if  you  see  him  every  day. 

Mme.  Camusot,  regarding  herself  as  a  bird  of  passage,  had 
taken  a  little  house  in  the  Rue  du  Cygne.  Furnished  lodg- 
ings there  were  none  ;  the  town  was  not  enough  of  a  thorough- 
fare, and  the  Camusots  could  not  afford  to  live  at  an  inn,  like 
M.  Michu.  So  the  fair  Parisian  had  no  choice  for  it  but  to 
take  such  furniture  as  she  could  find  ;  and  as  she  paid  a  very 
moderate  rent,  the  house  was  remarkably  ugly,  albeit  a  certain 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        285 

quaintness  of  detail  was  not  wanting.  It  was  built  against  a 
neighboring  house  in  such  a  fashion  that  the  side,  with  only 
one  window  in  each  story,  gave  upon  the  street,  and  the  front 
looked  out  upon  a  yard  where  rose-bushes  and  buckthorn  were 
growing  along  the  wall  on  either  side.  On  the  farther  side, 
opposite  the  house,  stood  a  shed,  a  roof  over  two  brick  arches. 
A  little  wicket-gate  gave  entrance  into  the  gloomy  place 
(made  gloomier  still  by  the  great  walnut  tree  which  grew  in 
the  yard),  and  a  double  flight  of  steps,  with  an  elaborately 
wrought  but  rust-eaten  handrail,  led  to  the  house-door.  In- 
side the  house  there  were  two  rooms  on  each  floor.  The 
dining-room  occupied  that  part  of  the  first  floor  nearest  the 
street,  and  the  kitchen  lay  on  the  other  side  of  a  narrow  pas- 
sage almost  wholly  taken  up  by  the  wooden  staircase.  Of  the 
two  second-floor  rooms,  one  did  duty  as  the  magistrate's 
study,  the  other  as  a  bedroom,  while  the  nursery  and  the 
servants'  bedroom  stood  above  in  the  attics.  There  were  no 
ceilings  in  the  house ;  the  cross-beams  were  simply  white- 
washed and  the  spaces  plastered  over.  Both  rooms  on  the 
second  floor  and  the  dining-room  below  were  wainscoted  and 
adorned  with  the  labyrinthine  designs  which  taxed  the  pa- 
tience of  the  eighteenth-century  carpenter ;  but  the  carving 
had  been  painted  a  dingy  gray  most  depressing  to  behold. 

The  magistrate's  study  looked  as  though  it  belonged  to  a 
provincial  lawyer ;  it  contained  a  big  desk,  a  mahogany  arm- 
chair, a  law  student's  books,  and  shabby  belongings  trans- 
ported from  Paris.  Mme.  Camusot's  room  was  more  of  a 
native  product ;  it  boasted  a  blue-and-white  scheme  of  decora- 
tion, a  carpet,  and  that  anomalous  kind  of  furniture  which 
appears  to  be  in  the  fashion,  while  it  is  simply  some  style  that 
has  failed  in  Paris.  As  to  the  dining-room,  it  was  nothing 
but  an  ordinary  provincial  dining-room,  bare  and  chilly,  with 
a  damp,  faded  paper  on  the  walls. 

In  this  shabby  room,  with  nothing  to  see  but  the  walnut 
tree,  the  dark  leaves  growing  against  the  walls,  and  the  almost 


286         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

deserted  road  beyond  them,  a  somewhat  lively  and  frivolous 
woman,  accustomed  to  the  amusements  and  stir  of  Paris,  used 
to  sit  all  day  long,  day  after  day,  and  for  the  most  part  of  the 
time  alone,  though  she  received  tiresome  and  inane  visits 
which  led  her  to  think  her  loneliness  preferable  to  empty 
tittle-tattle.  If  she  permitted  herself  the  slightest  gleam  of 
intelligence,  it  gave  rise  to  interminable  comment  and  embit- 
tered her  condition.  She  occupied  herself  a  good  deal  with 
her  children,  not  so  much  from  taste  as  for  the  sake  of  an  in- 
terest in  her  almost  solitary  life,  and  exercised  her  mind  on 
the  only  subjects  which  she  could  find ;  to  wit,  the  intrigues 
which  went  on  around  her,  the  ways  of  provincials,  and  the 
ambitions  shut  in  by  their  narrow  horizons.  So  she  very  soon 
fathomed  mysteries  of  which  her  husband  had  no  idea.  As 
she  sat  at  her  window  with  a  piece  of  intermittent  embroidery 
work  in  her  fingers,  she  did  not  see  her  wood-shed  full  of 
faggots  nor  the  servant  busy  at  the  wash-tub;  she  was  looking 
out  upon  Paris,  Paris  where  everything  is  pleasure,  everything 
is  full  of  life.  She  dreamed  of  Paris  gayeties,  and  shed  tears 
because  she  must  abide  in  this  dull  prison  of  a  country  town. 
She  was  disconsolate  because  she  lived  in  a  peaceful  district, 
where  no  conspiracy,  no  great  affair  would  ever  occur.  She 
saw  herself  doomed  to  sit  under  the  shadow  of  the  walnut  tree 
for  some  time  to  come. 

Mme.  Camusot  was  a  little,  plump,  fresh,  fair-haired  woman, 
with  a  very  prominent  forehead,  a  mouth  which  receded,  and  a 
turned-up  chin,  a  type  of  countenance  which  is  passable  in 
youth,  but  looks  old  before  the  time.  Her  bright,  quick  eyes 
expressed  her  innocent  desire  to  get  on  in  the  world,  and  the 
envy  born  of  her  present  inferior  position,  with  rather  too 
much  candor ;  but  still  they  lighted  up  her  commonplace  face 
and  set  it  off  with  a  certain  energy  of  feeling,  which  success 
was  certain  to  extinguish  in  later  life.  At  that  time  she  used 
to  give  a  good  deal  of  time  and  thought  to  her  dresses,  invent- 
ing trimmings  and  embroidering  them  ;  she  planned  out  her 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN,        287 

costumes  with  the  maid  whom  she  had  brought  with  her  from 
Paris,  and  so  maintained  the  reputation  of  Parisiennes  in  the 
provinces.  Her  caustic  tongue  was  dreaded  ;  she  was  not  be- 
loved. In  that  keen,  investigating  spirit  peculiar  to  unoc- 
cupied women  who  are  driven  to  find  some  occupation  for 
empty  days,  she  had  pondered  the  president's  private  opinions, 
until  at  length  she  discovered  what  he  meant  to  do,  and  for 
some  time  past  she  had  advised  Camusot  to  declare  war.  The 
young  count's  affair  was  an  excellent  opportunity.  Was  it  not 
obviously  Camusot's  part  to  make  a  stepping-stone  of  this 
criminal  case  by  favoring  the  d'Esgrignons,  a  family  with 
power  of  a  very  different  kind  from  the  power  of  the  du  Croisier 
party. 

"  Sauvager  will  never  marry  Mademoiselle  Duval.  They 
are  dangling  her  before  him,  but  he  will  be  the  dupe  of  those 
Machiavels  in  the  Val-Noble  to  whom  he  is  going  to  sacrifice 
his  position.  Camusot,  this  affair,  so  unfortunate  as  it  is  for 
the  d'Esgrignons,  so  insidiously  brought  on  by  the  president 
for  du  Croisier's  benefit,  will  turn  out  well  for  nobody  but 
you,"  she  had  said,  as  they  went  in. 

The  shrewd  Parisienne  had  likewise  guessed  the  president's 
underhand  manoeuvres  with  the  Blandureaus,  and  his  object  in 
baffling  old  Blondet's  efforts,  but  she  saw  nothing  to  be  gained 
by  opening  the  eyes  of  father  or  son  to  the  perils  of  the  situ- 
ation ;  she  was  enjoying  the  beginning  of  the  comedy ;  she 
knew  about  the  proposals  made  by  Chesnel's  successor  on 
behalf  of  Fabien  du  Ronceret,  but  she  did  not  suspect  how 
important  that  secret  might  be  to  her.  If  she  or  her  husband 
were  threatened  by  the  president,  Mme.  Camusot  could 
threaten  too,  in  her  turn,  to  call  the  amateur  gardener's  atten- 
tion to  a  scheme  for  carrying  off  the  flower  which  he  meant  to 
transplant  into  his  home. 

Chesnel  had  not  penetrated,  like  Mme.  Camusot,  into  the 
means  by  which  Sauvager  had  been  won  over ;  but  by  dint  of 
looking  into  the  various  lives  and  interests  of  the  men  grouped 


288         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

about  the  lilies  of  the  Tribunal,  he  knew  that  he  could  count 
upon  the  public  prosecutor,  upon  Camusot,  and  M.  Michu. 
Two  judges  for  the  d'Esgrignons  would  paralyze  the  rest. 
And,  finally,  Chesnel  knew  old  Blondet  well  enough  to  feel 
sure  that  if  he  ever  swerved  from  impartiality,  it  would  be  for 
the  sake  of  the  work  of  his  whole  lifetime — to  secure  his  son's 
appointment.  So  Chesnel  slept,  full  of  confidence,  on  the 
resolve  to  go  to  M.  Blondet  and  offer  to  realize  his  so  long- 
cherished  hopes,  while  he  opened  his  eyes  to  President  du 
Ronceret's  treachery.  Blondet  won  over,  he  would  take  a 
peremptory  tone  with  the  examining  magistrate,  to  whom  he 
hoped  to  prove  that,  if  Victurnien  was  not  blameless,  he  had 
been  merely  imprudent ;  the  whole  thing  should  be  shown  in 
the  light  of  a  boy's  thoughtless  escapade. 

But  Chesnel  slept  neither  soundly  nor  for  long.  Before 
dawn  he  was  awakened  by  his  housekeeper.  The  most  be- 
witching person  in  this  history,  the  most  adorable  youth  on 
the  face  of  the  globe,  Mme.  la  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse  her- 
self, in  man's  attire,  had  driven  alone  from  Paris  in  a  caleche, 
and  was  waiting  to  see  him. 

"I  have  come  to  save  him  or  to  die  with  him,"  said  she, 
addressing  the  notary,  who  thought  that  he  was  dreaming. 
"  I  have  brought  a  hundred  thousand  francs,  giveo  me  by  his 
majesty  out  of  his  private  purse,  to  buy  Victurnien's  innocence, 
if  his  adversary  can  be  bribed.  If  we  fail  utterly,  I  have 
brought  poison  to  snatch  him  away  before  anything  takes 
place,  before  even  the  indictment  is  drawn  up.  But  we  shall 
not  fail.  I  have  sent  word  to  the  public  prosecutor ;  he  is  on 
the  road  behind  me  ;  he  could  not  travel  in  my  caleche,  be- 
cause he  wished  to  take  the  instructions  of  the  keeper  of  the 
seals." 

Chesnel  rose  to  the  occasion  and  played  up  to  the  duchess ; 
he  wrapped  himself  in  his  dressing-gown,  fell  at  her  feet  and 
kissed  them,  not  without  asking  her  pardon  for  forgetting  him- 
self in  his  joy. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         289 

"  We  are  saved  !  "  cried  he ;  and  gave  orders  to  Brigitte  to 
see  that  Mme.  la  Duchesse  had  all  that  she  needed  after  travel- 
ing post  all  night.  He  appealed  to  the  fair  Diane's  spirit,  by 
making  her  see  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  she  should 
visit  the  examining  magistrate  before  daylight,  lest  any  one 
should  discover  the  secret,  or  so  much  as  imagine  that  the 
Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse  had  come. 

"  And  have  I  not  a  passport  in  due  form?  "  quoth  she,  dis- 
playing a  sheet  of  paper,  wherein  she  was  described  as  M.  le 
Vicomte  Felix  de  Vandenesse,  master  of  requests,  and  his 
majesty's  private  secretary.  "And  do  I  not  play  my  man's 
part  well  ? ' '  she  added,  running  her  fingers  through  her  wig 
a  la  Titus,  and  twirling  her  riding  switch. 

"Oh!  Madame  la  Duchesse,  you  are  an  angel!"  cried 
Chesnel,  with  tears  in  his  eyes.  (She  was  destined  always  to 
be  an  angel,  even  in  man's  attire.)  "  Button  up  your  great- 
coat, muffle  yourself  up  to  the  eyes  in  your  traveling  cloak, 
take  my  arm,  and  let  us  go  as  quickly  as  possible  to  Camusot's 
house  before  anybody  can  meet  us." 

"Then  am  I  going  to  see  a  man  called  Camusot?"  she 
asked. 

"With  a  nose  to  match  his  name,"*  assented  old  Maitre 
Chesnel. 

The  old  notary  felt  his  heart  dead  within  him,  but  he 
thought  it  none  the  less  necessary  to  humor  the  duchess,  to 
laugh  when  she  laughed,  and  shed  tears  when  she  wept ; 
groaning  in  spirit,  all  the  same,  over  the  feminine  frivolity 
which  could  find  matter  for  a  jest  while  setting  about  a  matter 
so  serious.  What  would  he  not  have  done  to  save  the  count  ? 
While  Chesnel  dressed,  Mme.  de  Maufrigneuse  sipped  the  cup 
of  coffee  and  cream  which  Brigitte  brought  her,  and  agreed 
with  herself  that  provincial  women  cooks  are  superior  to  the 
Parisian  chefs,  who  despise  the  little  details  which  make  all 
the  difference  to  an  epicure.  Thanks  to  Chesnel's  taste  for 

*  Camus,  flat-nosed. 
19 


290         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

delicate  fare,  Brigitte  was  found  prepared  to  set  an  excellent 
meal  before  the  duchess. 

Chesnel  and  his  charming  companion  set  out  for  M.  and 
Mme.  Camusot's  house. 

"  Ah  !  so  there  is  a  Madame  Camusot  ?"  said  the  duchess. 
"Then  the  affair  may  be  managed." 

"  And  so  much  the  more  readily,  because  the  lady  is  visibly 
enough  tired  of  living  among  us  provincials  ;  she  comes  from 
Paris,"  said  Chesnel. 

"Then  we  must  have  no  secrets  from  her?" 

"You  will  judge  how  much  to  tell  or  to  conceal,"  Chesnel 
replied  humbly.  "  I  am  sure  that  she  will  be  greatly  flattered 
to  be  the  Duchesse  dc  Maufrigneuse's  hostess;  you  will  be 
obliged  to  stay  in  her  house  until  nightfall,  I  expect,  unless 
you  find  it  inconvenient  to  remain." 

"  Is  this  Madame  Camusot  a  good-looking  woman  ?  "  asked 
the  duchess,  with  a  coxcomb's  air. 

"She  is  certainly  a  bit  of  a  queen  in  her  own  house,"  he 
made  reply. 

"Then  she  is  sure  to  meddle  in  court-house  affairs,"  re- 
turned the  duchess.  "  Nowhere  but  in  France,  my  dear 
Monsieur  Chesnel,  do  you  see  women  so  much  wedded  to 
their  husbands  that  they  are  wedded  to  their  husbands'  pro- 
fessions, work,  or  business  as  well.  In  Italy,  England,  and 
Germany,  women  make  it  a  point  of  honor  to  leave  men  to 
fight  their  own  battles ;  they  shut  their  eyes  to  their  husbands' 
work  as  perseveringly  as  our  French  citizens'  wives  do  all  that 
in  them  lies  to  understand  the  position  of  their  joint-stock 
partnership ;  is  not  that  what  you  call  it  in  your  legal  lan- 
guage ?  Frenchwomen  are  so  incredibly  jealous  in  the  con- 
duct of  their  married  life  that  they  insist  on  knowing  every- 
thing ;  and  that  is  how,  in  the  least  difficulty,  you  feel  the 
wife's  hand  in  the  business ;  the  Frenchwoman  advises,  guides, 
and  warns  her  husband.  And,  truth  to  tell,  the  man  is  none 
the  worse  off.  In  England,  if  a  married  man  is  put  in  prison 


THE  JEALOUSIES    OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.          291 

for  debt  for  twenty-four  hours,  his  wife  will  be  jealous  and 
make  a  scene  when  he  comes  back." 

"  Here  we  are,  without  meeting  a  soul  on  the  way,"  said 
Chesnel.  "You  are  the  more  sure  of  complete  ascendency 
here,  Madame  la  Duchesse,  since  Madame  Camusot's  father  is 
one  Thirion,  usher  of  the  royal  cabinet." 

"And  the  King  never  thought  of  that!"  exclaimed  the 
duchess.  "  He  thinks  of  nothing  !  Thirion  introduced  us, 
the  Prince  de  Cadignan,  Monsieur  de  Vandenesse,  and  me ! 
We  shall  have  it  all  our  own  way  in  this  house.  Settle  every- 
thing with  Monsieur  Camusot  while  I  talk  to  his  wife." 

The  maid,  who  was  washing  and  dressing  the  children, 
showed  the  visitors  into  the  little  fireless  dining-room. 

"  Take  that  card  to  your  mistress,"  said  the  duchess,  lower- 
ing her  voice  for  the  woman's  ear ;   "  nobody  else  is  to  see  it. 
If  you  are  discreet,  child,  you  shall  not  lose  by  it." 
.  At  the  sound  of  a  woman's  voice,  and  the  sight  of  the 
handsome  young  man's  face,  the  maid  looked  thunderstruck. 

"Wake  Monsieur  Camusot,"  said  Chesnel,  "and  tell  him 
that  I  am  waiting  to  see  him  on  important  business,"  and  she 
departed  upstairs  forthwith. 

A  few  minutes  later,  Mme.  Camusot,  in  her  dressing-gown, 
sprang  downstairs  and  brought  the  handsome  stranger  into  her 
room.  She  had  pushed  Camusot  out  of  bed  and  into  his  study 
with  all  his  clothes,  bidding  him  dress  himself  at  once  and 
wait  there.  The  transformation  scene  had  been  brought  about 
by  a  bit  of  pasteboard  with  the  words  MADAME  LA  DUCHESSE 
DE  MAUFRIGNEUSE  engraved  upon  it.  A  daughter  of  the 
usher  of  the  royal  cabinet  took  in  the  whole  situation  at  once. 

"  Well !  "  exclaimed  the  maidservant,  left  with  Chesnel  in 
the  dining-room,  "would  not  any  one  think  that  a  thunder- 
bolt had  dropped  in  among  us?  The  master  is  dressing  in 
his  study;  you  may  go  upstairs." 

"  Not  a  word  of  all  this,  mind,"  said  Chesnel. 

Now  that  he  was  conscious  of  the  support  of  a  great  lady 


292         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

who  had  the  King's  consent  (by  word  of  mouth)  to  the  meas- 
ures about  to  be  taken  for  rescuing  the  Comte  d'Esgrignon, 
he  spoke  with  an  air  of  authority  which  served  his  cause  much 
better  with  Camusot  than  the  humility  with  which  he  would 
otherwise  have  approached  him. 

"Sir,"  said  he,  "  the  words  let  fall  last  evening  may  have 
surprised  you,  but  they  are  serious.  The  house  d'Esgrignon 
counts  upon  you  for  the  proper  conduct  of  investigations 
from  which  it  must  issue  without  a  spot." 

"  I  shall  pass  over  anything  in  your  remarks,  sir,  which  must 
be  offensive  to  me  personally  and  obnoxious  to  justice ;  for 
your  position  with  regard  to  the  d'Esgrignons  excuses  you  up 
to  a  certain  point,  but " 

"Pardon  me,  sir,  if  I  interrupt  you,"  said  Chesnel.  "I 
have  just  spoken  aloud  the  things  which  your  superiors  are 
thinking  and  dare  not  avow ;  though  what  those  things  are  any 
intelligent  man  can  guess,  and  you  are  an  intelligent  man. 
Grant  that  the  young  man  had  acted  imprudently,  can  you 
suppose  that  the  sight  of  a  d'Esgrignon  dragged  into  an  Assize 
Court  can  be  gratifying  to  the  King,  the  Court,  or  the  Min- 
istry ?  Is  it  to  the  interest  of  the  kingdom,  or  of  the  country, 
that  historic  houses  should  fall?  Is  not  the  existence  of  a 
great  aristocracy,  consecrated  by  time,  a  guarantee  of  that 
Equality  which  is  the  catchword  of  the  Opposition  at  this 
moment  ?  Well  and  good  ;  now  not  only  has  there  not  been 
the  slightest  imprudence,  but  we  are  innocent  victims  caught 
in  a  trap." 

"I  am  curious  to  know  how,"  said  the  examining  magis- 
trate. 

"  For  the  last  two  years,  the  Sieur  du  Croisier  has  regularly 
allowed  Monsieur  le  Comte  d'Esgrignon  to  draw  upon  him  for 
very  large  sums,"  said  Chesnel.  "We  are  going  to  produce 
drafts  for  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  crowns,  which  he 
continually  met ;  the  amounts  being  remitted  by  me — bear 
that  well  in  mind — either  before  or  after  the  bills  fell  due. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        293 

Monsieur  le  Comte  d'Esgrignon  is  in  a  position  to  produce  a 
receipt  for  the  sum  paid  by  him,  before  this  bill,  this  alleged 
forgery,  was  drawn.  Can  you  fail  to  see  in  that  case  that  this 
charge  is  a  piece  of  spite  and  party  feeling?  And  a  charge 
brought  against  the  heir  of  a  great  house  by  one  of  the  most 
dangerous  enemies  of  the  throne  and  altar,  what  is  it  but  an 
odious  slander?  There  has  been  no  more  forgery  in  this 
affair  than  there  has  been  in  my  office.  Summon  Madame  du 
Croisier,  who  knows  nothing  as  yet  of  the  charge  of  forgery ; 
she  will  declare  to  you  that  I  brought  the  money  and  paid  it 
over  to  her,  so  that  in  her  husband's  absence  she  might  remit 
the  amount  for  which  he  has  not  asked  her.  Examine  du 
Croisier  on  the  point ;  he  will  tell  you  that  he  knows  nothing 
of  my  payment  to  Madame  du  Croisier." 

"You  may  make  such  assertions  as  these,  sir,  in  Monsieur 
d'Esgrignon's  salon,  or  in  any  other  house  where  people  know 
nothing  of  business,  and  they  may  be  believed  ;  but  no  ex- 
amining magistrate,  unless  he  is  a  driveling  idiot,  can  imagine 
that  a  woman  like  Madame  du  Croisier,  so  submissive  as  she  is 
to  her  husband,  has  a  hundred  thousand  crowns  lying  in  her 
desk  at  this  moment,  without  saying  a  word  to  him ;  nor  yet 
that  an  old  notary  would  not  have  advised  Monsieur  du  Croisier 
of  the  deposit  on  his  return  to  town." 

"  The  old  notary,  sir,  had  gone  to  Paris  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  young  man's  extravagance." 

"  I  have  not  yet  examined  the  Comte  d'Esgrignon,"  Cam- 
usot  began  ;  "  his  answers  will  point  out  my  duty." 

"  Is  he  in  close  custody  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"Sir,"  said  Chesnel,  seeing  danger  ahead,  "the  examina- 
tion can  be  made  in  our  interests  or  against  them.  But  there 
are  two  courses  open  to  you :  you  can  establish  the  fact  on 
Madame  du  Croisier's  deposition  that  the  amount  was  depos- 
ited with  her  before  the  bill  was  drawn  ;  or  you  can  examine 
the  unfortunate  young  man  implicated  in  this  affair,  and  he  ir^ 


294         THE  JEALOUSIES  OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

his  confusion  may  remember  nothing  and  commit  himself. 
You  will  decide  which  is  the  more  credible — a  slip  of  memory 
on  the  part  of  a  woman  in  her  ignorance  of  business,  or  a 
forgery  committed  by  a  d'Esgrignon." 

"All  this  is  beside  the  point,"  began  Camusot;  "the 
question  is,  whether  Monsieur  le  Comte  d'Esgrignon  has  or 
has  not  used  the  lower  half  of  a  letter  addressed  to  him  by  du 
Croisier  as  a  bill  of  exchange." 

"  Eh!  and  so  he  might,"  a  voice  cried  suddenly,  as  Madame 
Camusot  broke  in,  followed  by  the  handsome  stranger,  "so  he 
might,  when  Monsieur  Chesnel  had  advanced  the  money  to 
meet  the  bill " 

She  leaned  over  her  husband. 

"  You  will  have  the  first  vacant  appointment  as  assistant 
judge  at  Paris,  you  are  serving  the  King  himself  in  this 
affair;  I  have  proof  of  it;  you  will  not  be  forgotten,"  she 
said,  lowering  her  voice  for  his  ear.  "  This  young  man  that 
you  see  here  is  the  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse ;  you  must 
never  have  seen  her,  and  do  all  that  you  can  for  the  young 
count  boldly." 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  Camusot,  "  even  if  the  preliminary 
examination  is  conducted  to  prove  the  young  count's  inno- 
cence, can  I  answer  for  the  view  the  court  may  take  ?  Mon- 
sieur Chesnel,  and  you  also,  my  sweet,  know  what  Monsieur 
le  President  wants." 

"Tut,  tut,  tut!"  said  Mme.  Camusot,  "go  yourself  to 
Monsieur  Michu  this  morning,  and  tell  him  that  the  count  has 
been  arrested ;  you  will  be  two  against  two  in  that  case,  I 
will  be  bound.  Michu  comes  from  Paris,  and  you  know  that 
he  is  devoted  to  the  noblesse.  Good  blood  cannot  lie." 

At  that  very  moment  Mile.  Cadot's  voice  was  heard  in  the 
doorway.  She  had  brought  a  note,  and  was  waiting  for  an 
answer.  Camusot  went  out,  and  came  back  again  to  read  the 
note  aloud : 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        295 

"  M.  le  Vice-President  begs  M.  Camusct  to  sit  in  audience 
to-day  and  for  the  next  few  days,  so  that  there  may  be  a 
quorum  during  M.  le  President's  absence." 

"  Then  there  is  an  end  of  the  preliminary  examination  !  " 
cried  Mme.  Camusot.  "  Did  I  not  tell  you,  dear,  that  they 
would  play  you  some  ugly  trick  ?  The  president  has  gone  off 
to  slander  you  to  the  public  prosecutor  and  the  president  of 
the  Court-Royal.  You  will  be  changed  before  you  can  make 
the  examination.  Is  that  clear  ?  " 

"You  will  stay,  monsieur,"  said  the  duchess.  "The 
public  prosecutor  is  coming,  I  hope,  in  time." 

"When  the  public  prosecutor  arrives,"  little  Mme.  Camu- 
sot said,  with  some  heat,  "  he  must  find  all  over.  Yes,  my 
dear,  yes,"  she  added,  looking  full  at  her  amazed  husband. 
"  Ah  !  old  hypocrite  of  a  president,  you  are  setting  your  wits 
against  us ;  you  shall  remember  it  !  You  have  a  mind  to 
help  us  to  a  dish  of  your  own  making,  you  shall  have  two 
served  up  to  you  by  your  humble  servant  Cecile-Amelie 
Thirion  !  Poor  old  Blondet !  It  is  lucky  for  him  that  the 
president  has  taken  this  journey  to  turn  us  out,  for  now  that 
great  oaf  of  a  Joseph  Blondet  will  marry  Mademoiselle  Blan- 
dureau.  I  will  let  Father  Blondet  have  some  seeds  in  return. 
As  for  you,  Camusot,  go  to  Monsieur  Michu's,  while  Madame 
la  Duchesse  and  I  will  go  to  find  old  Blondet.  You  must 
expect  to  hear  it  said  all  over  the  town  to-morrow  that  I  took 
a  walk  with  a  lover  this  morning." 

Mme.  Camusot  took  the  duchess'  arm,  and  they  went 
through  the  town  by  deserted  streets  to  avoid  any  unpleasant 
adventure  on  the  way  to  the  old  vice-president's  house. 
Chesnel  meanwhile  conferred  with  the  young  count  in  prison; 
Camusot  had  arranged  a  stolen  interview.  Cook-maids,  ser- 
vants, and  the  other  early  risers  of  a  country  town,  seeing 
Mme.  Camusot  and  the  duchess  taking  their  way  through  the 
back  streets,  took  the  young  gentleman  for  an  adorer  from 


296         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

Paris.  That  evening,  as  Cecile-Amelie  had  said,  the  news  of 
her  behavior  was  circulated  about  the  town,  and  more  than 
one  scandalous  rumor  was  occasioned  thereby.  Mme.  Camu- 
sot  and  her  supposed  lover  found  old  Blondet  in  his  green- 
house. He  greeted  his  colleague's  wife  and  her  companion, 
and  gave  the  charming  young  man  a  keen,  uneasy  glance. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  introduce  one  of  my  husband's 
cousins,"  said  Mme.  Camusot,  bringing  forward  the  duchess; 
"  he  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  horticulturists  in  Paris ; 
and  as  he  cannot  spend  more  than  the  one  day  with  us,  on 
his  way  back  from  Brittany,  and  has  heard  of  your  flowers 
and  plants,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  coming  early." 

"Oh,  the  gentleman  is  a  horticulturist,  is  he?"  said  old 
Blondet. 

The  duchess  bowed. 

"This  is  my  coffee-plant,"  said  Blondet,  "and  here  is  a 
tea-plant." 

"  What  can  have  taken  Monsieur  le  President  away  from 
home?"  put  in  Mme.  Camusot.  "I  will  wager  that  his 
absence  concerns  Monsieur  Camusot." 

"  Exactly.  This,  monsieur,  is  the  queerest  of  all  cacti," 
he  continued,  producing  a  flower-pot  which  appeared  to  con- 
tain a  piece  of  mildewed  rattan  ;  "it  comes  from  Australia. 
You  are  very  young,  sir,  to  be  a  horticulturist." 

"  Dear  Monsieur  Blondet,  never  mind  your  flowers,"  said 
Mme.  Camusot.  "  You  are  concerned,  you  and  your  hopes, 
and  your  son's  marriage  with  Mademoiselle  Blandureau.  You 
are  duped  by  the  president." 

"Bah  !  "  said  old  Blondet,  with  an  incredulous  air. 

"Yes,"  retorted  she.  "If  you  cultivated  people  a  little 
more  and  your  flowers  a  little  less,  you  would  know  that  the 
dowry  and  the  hopes  that  you  have  sown,  and  watered,  and 
tilled,  and  weeded  are  on  the  point  of  being  gathered  now  by 
cunning  hands." 

"  Madame  ! " 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         297 

"  Oh,  nobody  in  the  town  will  have  the  courage  to  fly  in 
the  president's  face  and  warn  you.  I,  however,  do  not  belong 
to  the  town,  and,  thanks  to  this  obliging  young  man,  I  shall 
soon  be  going  back  to  Paris ;  so  I  can  inform  you  that  Ches- 
nel's  successor  has  made  formal  proposals  for  Mademoiselle 
Claire  Blandureau's  hand  on  behalf  of  young  du  Ronceret,  who 
is  to  have  fifty  thousand  crowns  from  his  parents.  As  for 
Fabien,  he  has  made  up  his  mind  to  receive  a  call  to  the  bar, 
so  as  to  gain  an  appointment  as  judge." 

Old  Blondet  dropped  the  flower-pot  which  he  had  brought 
out  for  the  duchess  to  see. 

"  Oh,  my  cactus  !  Oh,  my  son  !  and  Mademoiselle  Blan- 
dureau  !  Look  here  !  the  cactus  flower  is  broken  to  pieces." 

"No,"  Mme.  Camusot  answered,  laughing;  "everything 
can  be  put  right.  If  you  have  a  mind  to  see  your  son  a  judge 
in  another  month,  we  will  tell  you  how  you  must  set  to  work 
and " 

"Step  this  way,  sir,  and  you  will  see  my  pelargoniums,  an 

enchanting  sight  while  they  are  in  flower "  Then  he 

added  to  Mme.  Camusot,  "  Why  did  you  speak  of  these  mat- 
ters while  your  cousin  was  present  ?  " 

"All  depends  upon  him,"  replied  Mme.  Camusot.  "Your 
son's  appointment  is  lost  for  ever  if  vou  let  fall  a  word  about 
this  young  man." 

"Bah!" 

'  The  young  man  is  a  flower " 

"Ah!" 

"He  is  the  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse,  sent  here  by  his 
majesty  to  save  young  d'Esgrignon,  whom  they  arrested  yes- 
terday on  a  charge  of  forgery  brought  against  him  by  du 
Croisier.  Madame  la  Duchesse  has  authority  from  the  keeper 
of  the  seals ;  he  will  ratify  any  promises  that  she  makes  to 
each  of " 

"  My  cactus  is  all  right !  "  exclaimed  Blondet,  peering  at 
his  precious  plant.  "  Go  on ;  I  am  listening." 


298         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

"Take  counsel  with  Camusot  and  Michu  to  hush  up  the 
affair  as  soon  as  possible,  and  your  son  will  get  the  appoint- 
ment. It  will  come  in  time  enough  to  baffle  du  Ronceret's 
underhand  dealings  with  the  Blandureaus.  Your  son  will  be 
something  better  than  assistant  judge ;  he  will  have  Monsieur 
Camusot's  post  within  the  year.  The  public  prosecutor  will 
be  here  to-day.  Monsieur  Sauvager  will  be  obliged  to  resign, 
I  expect,  after  his  conduct  in  this  affair.  At  the  court  my 
husband  will  show  you  documents  which  completely  exonerate 
the  count  and  prove  that  the  forgery  was  a  trap  of  du  Croisicr's 
own  setting." 

Old  Blondet  went  into  the  Olympic  circus  where  his  six 
thousand  pelargoniums  stood,  and  made  his  bow  to  the 
duchesse. 

"Monsieur,"  said  he,  "if  your  wishes  do  not  exceed  the 
law,  this  thing  may  be  done." 

"Monsieur,"  returned  the  duchesse,  "send  in  your  resig- 
nation to  Monsieur  Chesnel  to-morrow,  and  I  will  promise 
you  that  your  son  shall  be  appointed  within  the  week ;  but 
you  must  not  resign  until  you  have  had  confirmation  of  my 
promise  from  the  public  prosecutor.  You  men  of  law  will 
come  to  a  better  understanding  among  yourselves.  Only  let 
him  know  that  the  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse  has  pledged  her 
word  to  you.  And  not  a  word  as  to  my  journey  hither,"  she 
added. 

The  old  judge  kissed  her  hand  and  began  recklessly  to 
gather  his  best  flowers  for  her. 

"Can  you  think  of  it?  Give  them  to  madame,"  said  the 
duchesse.  "A  young  man  would  not  have  flowers  about  him 
when  he  had  a  pretty  woman  on  his  arm." 

"  Before  you  go  down  to  the  court,"  added  Mme.  Camusot, 
"  ask  Chesnel's  successor  about  those  proposals  that  he  made 
in  the  name  of  Monsieur  and  Madame  du  Ronceret." 

Old  Blondet,  quite  overcome  by  this  revelation  of  the 
president's  duplicity,  stood  planted  on  his  feet  by  the  wicket- 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        299 

gate,  looking  after  the  two  women  as  they  hurried  away 
through  by-streets  home  again.  The  edifice  raised  so  pain- 
fully during  ten  years  for  his  beloved  son  was  crumbling 
visibly  before  his  eyes.  Was  it  possible  ?  He  suspected  some 
trick,  and  hurried  away  to  Chesnel's  successor. 

At  half-past  nine,  before  the  court  was  sitting,  Vice-Presi- 
dent  Blondet,  Camusot,  and  Michu  met  with  remarkable 
punctuality  in  the  council  chamber.  Blondet  locked  the  door 
with  some  precautions  when  Camusot  and  Michu  came  in 
together. 

"Well,  M'sieur  Vice-President, "  began  Michu,  "Monsieur 
Sauvager,  without  consulting  the  public  prosecutor,  has  issued 
a  warrant  for  the  apprehension  of  one  Comte  d'Esgrignon,  in 
order- to  serve  a  grudge  borne  against  him  by  one  du  Croisier, 
an  enemy  of  the  King's  government.  It  is  a  regular  topsy- 
turvy affair.  The  president,  for  his  part,  goes  away,  and 
thereby  puts  a  stop  to  the  preliminary  examination  !  And  we 
know  nothing  of  the  matter.  Do  they,  by  any  chance,  mean 
to  force  our  hand  ?  " 

"  This  is  the  first  word  I  have  heard  of  it,"  said  the  vice- 
president.  He  was  furious  with  the  president  for  stealing  a 
march  on  him  with  the  Blandureaus.  Chesnel's  successor,  the 
du  Roncerets'  man,  had  just  fallen  into  a  snare  set  by  the  old 
judge  ;  the  truth  was  out,  he  knew  the  secret. 

"It  is  lucky  that  we  spoke  to  you  about  that  matter,  my 
dear  master,"  said  Camusot,  "  or  you  might  have  given  up  all 
hope  of  seating  your  son  on  the  bench  or  of  marrying  him  to 
Mademoiselle  Blandureau." 

"  But  it  is  no  question  of  my  son,  nor  of  his  marriage,"  said 
the  vice-president ;  "  we  are  talking  of  young  Comte  d'Esgrig- 
non. Is  he  or  is  he  not  guilty?  " 

"It  seems  that  Chesnel  deposited  the  amount  to  meet  the 
bill  with  Madame  du  Croisier,"  said  Michu,  "and  a  crime 
has  been  made  of  a  mere  irregularity.  According  to  the 
charge,  the  count  made  use  of  the  lower  half  of  a  letter  bear- 


300         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

ing  du  Croisier's  signature  as  a  draft  which  he  cashed  at  the 
Kellers'." 

"An  imprudent  thing  to  do,"  was  Camusot's  comment. 

"  But  why  is  du  Croisier  proceeding  against  him  if  the 
amount  was  paid  in  beforehand?"  asked  Vice-President 
Blondet. 

"  He  does  not  know  that  the  money  was  deposited  with  his 
wife;  or  he  pretends  that  he  does  not  know,"  said  Camusot. 

"  It  is  a  piece  of  provincial  spite,"  said  Michu. 

"  Still  it  looks  like  a  forgery  to  me,"  said  old  Blondet. 

No  passion  could  obscure  judicial  clear-sightedness  in  him. 

"Do  you  think  so?"  returned  Camusot.  "But,  at  the 
outset,  supposing  that  the  count  had  no  business  to  draw  upon 
du  Croisier,  there  would  still  be  no  forgery  of  the  signature ; 
and  the  count  believed  that  he  had  a  right  to  draw  on  Croisier 
when  Chesnel  advised  him  that  the  money  had  been  placed  to 
his  credit." 

"Well,  then,  where  is  the  forgery?"  asked  Blondet.  "  It 
is  the  intent  to  defraud  which  constitutes  forgery  in  a  civil 
action." 

"Oh,  it  is  clear,  if  you  take  du  Croisier's  version  for  truth, 
that  the  signature  was  diverted  from  its  purpose  to  obtain  a 
sum  of  money  in  spite  of  du  Croisier's  contrary  injunction  to 
his  bankers,"  Camusot  answered. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Blondet,  "this  seems  to  me  to  be  a 
mere  trifle,  a  quibble.  Suppose  you  had  the  money,  I  ought 
perhaps  to  have  waited  until  I  had  your  authorization ;  but  I, 
Comte  d'Esgrignon,  was  pressed  for  money,  so  I —  Come, 
come,  your  prosecution  is  a  piece  of  revengeful  spite.  For- 
gery is  defined  by  the  law  as  an  attempt  to  obtain  any  advan- 
tage which  rightfully  belongs  to  another.  There  is  no  forgery 
here,  according  to  the  letter  of  the  Roman  law,  nor  according 
to  the  spirit  of  modern  jurisprudence  (always  from  the  point 
of  view  of  a  civil  action,  for  we  are  not  here  concerned  with 
the  falsification  of  public  or  authentic  documents).  Between 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.         301 

private  individuals  the  essence  of  a  forgery  is  the  intent  to 
defraud  ;  where  is  it  in  this  case  ?  In  what  times  are  we  liv- 
ing, gentlemen  ?  Here  is  the  president  going  away  to  balk  a 
preliminary  examination  which  ought  to  be  over  by  this  time  ! 
Until  to-day  I  did  not  know  Monsieur  le  President,  but  he  shall 
have  the  benefit  of  arrears  ;  from  this  time  forth  he'  shall  draft 
his  decisions  himself.  You  must  set  about  this  affair  with 
all  possible  speed,  Monsieur  Camusot." 

"Yes,"  said  Michu.  "In  my  opinion,  instead  of  letting 
the  young  man  out  on  bail,  we  ought  to  pull  him  out  of  this 
mess  at  once.  Everything  turns  on  the  examination  of  du 
Croisier  and  his  wife.  You  might  summon  them  to  appear 
while  the  court  is  sitting,  Monsieur  Camusot ;  take  down  their 
depositions  before  four  o'clock,  send  in  your  report  to-night, 
and  we  will  give  our  decision  in  the  morning  before  the  court 
sits." 

"  We  will  settle  what  course  to  pursue  while  the  barristers  are 
pleading,"  said  Vice-President  Blondet,  addressing  Camusot. 

And  with  that  the  three  judges  put  on  their  robes  and  went 
into  court. 

At  noon  Mile.  Armande  and  the  bishop  reached  the  Hotel 
d'Esgrignon  ;  Chesnel  and  M.  Couturier  were  there  to  meet 
them.  There  was  a  sufficiently  short  conference  between  the 
prelate  and  Mme.  du  Croisier's  director,  and  the  latter  set 
out  at  once  to  visit  his  charge. 

At  eleven  o'clock  that  morning  du  Croisier  received  a  sum- 
mons to  appear  in  the  examining  magistrate's  office  between 
one  and  two  in  the  afternoon.  Thither  he  betook  himself, 
consumed  by  well-founded  suspicions.  It  was  impossible  that 
the  president  should  have  foreseen  the  arrival  of  the  Duchesse 
de  Maufrigneuse  upon  the  scene,  the  return  of  the  public  prose- 
cutor, and  the  hasty  confabulation  of  his  learned  brethren ;  so 
he  had  omitted  to  trace  out  a  plan  for  du  Croisier's  guidance 
in  the  event  of  the  preliminary  examination  taking  place. 
Neither  of  the  pair  imagined  that  the  proceedings  would  be 


302         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

hurried  on  in  this  way.  Du  Croisier  obeyed  the  summons  at 
once ;  he  wanted  to  know  how  M.  Camusot  was  disposed  to 
act.  So  he  was  compelled  to  answer  the  questions  put  to  him. 
Camusot  addressed  him  in  summary  fashion  with  the  six  fol- 
lowing inquiries: 

"Was  the  signature  on  the  bill  alleged  to  be  a  forgery  in 
your  handwriting?  Had  you  previously  done  business  with 
Monsieur  le  Comte  d'Esgrignon  ?  Was  not  Monsieur  le 
Comte  d'Esgrignon  in  the  habit  of  drawing  upon  you,  with 
or  without  advice?  Did  you  not  write  a  letter  authorizing 
Monsieur  d'Esgrignon  to  rely  upon  you  at  anytime?  Had 
not  Chesnel  squared  the  account  not  once,  but  many  times 
already?  Were  you  not  away  from  home  when  this  took 
place?" 

All  these  questions  the  banker  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
In  spite  of  wordy  explanations,  the  magistrate  always  brought 
him  back  to  a  "Yes"  or  "No."  When  the  questions  and 
answers  had  been  alike  resumed  in  the  proc'es-verbal,  the  exam- 
ining magistrate  brought  out  a  final  thunderbolt. 

"Was  du  Croisier  aware  that  the  money  destined  to  meet 
the  bill  had  been  deposited  with  him,  du  Croisier,  according 
to  Chesnel's  declaration,  and  a  letter  of  advice  sent  by  the 
said  Chesnel  to  the  Comte  d'Esgrignon,  five  days  before  the 
date  of  the  bill?" 

That  last  question  frightened  du  Croisier.  He  asked  what 
was  meant  by  it,  and  whether  he  was  supposed  to  be  the 
defendant  and  M.  le  Comte  d'Esgrignon  the  plaintiff?  He 
called  the  magistrate's  attention  to  the  fact  that  if  the  money 
had  been  deposited  with  him,  there  was  no  ground  for  the 
action. 

"Justice  is  seeking  information,"  said  the  magistrate,  as  he 
dismissed  the  witness,  but  not  before  he  had  taken  down  du 
.Croisier's  last  observation. 

"But  the  money,  sir " 

"  The  money  is  at  your  house." 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        303 

Chesnel,  likewise  summoned,  came  forward  to  explain  the 
matter.  The  truth  of  his  assertions  was  borne  out  by  Mme. 
du  Croisier's  deposition.  The  count  had  already  been  exam- 
ined. Prompted  by  Chesnel,  he  produced  du  Croisier's  first 
letter,  in  which  he  begged  the  count  to  draw  upon  him  with- 
out the  insulting  formality  of  depositing  the  amount  before- 
hand. The  Comte  d'Esgrignon  next  brought  out  a  letter  in 
Chesnel's  handwriting,  by  which  the  notary  advised  him  of 
the  deposit  of  a  hundred  thousand  crowns  with  M.  du  Croisier. 
With  such  primary  facts  as  these  to  bring  forward  as  evidence, 
the  young  count's  innocence  was  bound  to  emerge  triumph- 
antly from  a  court  of  law. 

Du  Croisier  went  home  from  the  court,  his  face  white  with 
rage,  and  the  foam  of  repressed  fury  on  his  lips.  His  wife 
was  sitting  by  the  fireside  in  the  drawing-room  at  work  upon 
a  pair  of  slippers  for  him.  She  trembled  when  she  looked 
into  his  face,  but  her  mind  was  made  up. 

"Madame,"  he  stammered  out,  "what  deposition  is  this 
that  you  made  before  the  magistrate  ?  You  have  dishonored, 
ruined,  and  betrayed  me  !  " 

"I  have  saved  you,  monsieur,"  answered  she.  "If  some 
day  you  will  have  the  honor  of  connecting  yourself  with  the 
d'Esgrignons  by  marrying  your  niece  to  the  count,  it  will  be 
entirely  owing  to  my  conduct  to-day." 

"A  miracle!"  cried  he.  "Balaam's  ass  has  spoken. 
Nothing  will  astonish  me  after  this.  And  where  are  the  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns  which  (so  Monsieur  Camusot  tells  me) 
are  here  in  my  house?  " 

"Here  they  are,"  said  she,  pulling  out  a  bundle  of  bank- 
notes from  beneath  the  cushions  of  her  settee.  "I  have  not 
committed  mortal  sin  by  declaring  that  Monsieur  Chesnel 
gave  them  into  my  keeping." 

"  While  I  was  away?  " 

"You  were  not  here." 

"Will  you  swear  that  to  me  on  your  salvation?" 


304         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

"I  swear  it,"  she  said  composedly. 

"Then  why  did  you  say  nothing  to  me  about  it?"  de- 
manded he. 

"I  was  wrong  there,"  said  his  wife;  "but  my  mistake  was 
all  for  your  good.  Your  niece  will  be  Marquise  d'Esgrignon 
some  of  these  days,  and  you  will  perhaps  be  a  deputy,  if  you 
behave  well  in  this  deplorable  business.  You  have  gone  too 
far;  you  must  find  out  how  to  get  back  again." 

Du  Croisier,  under  stress  of  painful  agitation,  strode  up  and 
down  his  drawing-room ;  while  his  wife,  in  no  less  agitation, 
awaited  the  result  of  this  exercise.  Du  Croisier  at  length 
rang  the  bell. 

"  I  am  not  at  home  to  any  one  to-night,"  he  said,  when  the 
man  appeared;  "shut  the  gates;  and  if  any  one  calls,  tell 
them  that  your  mistress  and  I  have  gone  into  the  country. 
We  shall  start  directly  after  dinner,  and  dinner  must  be  half 
an  hour  earlier  than  usual." 

The  great  news  was  discussed  that  evening  in  every  draw- 
ing-room; little  storekeepers,  working  people,  beggars,  the 
noblesse,  the  merchant  class — the  whole  town,  in  short,  was 
talking  of  the  Comte  d'Esgrignon's  arrest  on  a  charge  of 
forgery.  The  Comte  d'Esgrignon  would  be  tried  in  the  As- 
size Court ;  he  would  be  condemned  and  branded.  Most  of 
those  who  cared  for  the  honor  of  the  family  denied  the  fact. 
At  nightfall  Chesnel  went  to  Mme.  Camusot  and  escorted  the 
stranger  to  the  Hotel  d'Esgrignon.  Poor  Mile.  Armande  was 
expecting  him ;  she  led  the  fair  duchess  to  her  own  room, 
which  she  had  given  up  to  her,  for  his  lordship  the  bishop 
occupied  Victurnien's  chamber ;  and,  left  alone  with  her  guest, 
the  noble  woman  glanced  at  the  duchess  with  most  piteous 
eyes. 

"You  owed  help,  indeed,  madame,  to  the  poor  boy  who 
ruined  himself  for  your  sake,"  she  said ;  "the  boy  to  whom 
we  are  all  of  us  sacrificing  ourselves." 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        305 

The  duchess  had  already  made  a  woman's  survey  of  Mile. 
d'Esgrignon's  room;  the  cold,  bare,  comfortless  chamber, 
that  might  have  been  a  nun's  cell,  was  like  a  picture  of  the 
life  of  the  heroic  woman  before  her.  The  duchess  saw  it  all 
— past,  present,  and  future — with  rising  emotion,  felt  the  in- 
congruity of  her  presence,  and  could  not  keep  back  the  falling 
tears  that  made  answer  for  her. 

But  in  Mile.  Armande  the  Christian  overcame  Victurnien's 
aunt.  "Ah,  I  was  wrong;  forgive  me,  Madame  la  Duchesse; 
you  did  not  know  how  poor  we  were,  and  my  nephew  was  in- 
capable of  the  admission.  And  beside,  now  that  I  see  you,  I 
can  understand  all — even  the  crime !  " 

And  Mile.  Armande,  withered  and  thin  and  white,  but 
beautiful  as  those  tall,  austere  slender  figures  which  German 
art  alone  can  paint,  had  tears,  too,  in  her  eyes. 

"  Do  not  fear,  dear  angel?  "  the  duchess  said  at  last ;  "  he 
is  safe." 

"  Yes,  but  honor ? — and  his  career?  Chesnel  told  me ;  the 
King  knows  the  truth." 

"We  will  think  of  a  way  of  repairing  the  evil,"  said  the 
duchess. 

Mile.  Armande  went  downstairs  to  the  salon,  and  found  the 
Collection  of  Antiquities  complete  to  a  man.  Every  one  of 
them  had  come,  partly  to  do  honor  to  the  bishop,  partly  to 
rally  round  the  marquis ;  but  Chesnel,  posted  in  the  ante- 
chamber, warned  each  new  arrival  to  say  no  word  of  the  affair, 
that  the  aged  marquis  might  never  know  that  such  a  thing  had 
been.  The  loyal  Frank  was  quite  capable  of  killing  his  son 
or  du  Croisier  ;  for  either  the  one  or  the  other  must  have  been 
guilty  of  death  in  his  eyes.  It  chanced,  strangely  enough, 
that  he  talked  more  of  Victurnien  than  usual ;  he  was  glad 
that  his  son  had  gone  back  to  Paris.  The  King  would  give 
Victurnien  a  place  before  very  long ;  the  King  was  interesting 
himself  at  last  in  the  d'Esgrignons.  And  his  friends,  their 
hearts  dead  within  them,  praised  Victurnien's  conduct  to  the 
20 


306          THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

skies.  Mile.  Armande  prepared  the  way  for  her  nephew's 
sudden  appearance  among  them  by  remarking  to  her  brother 
that  Victurnien  would  be  sure  to  come  to  see  them,  and  that 
he  must  be  even  then  on  his  way. 

"Bah!"  said  the  marquis,  standing  with  his  back  to  the 
hearth,  "if  he  is  doing  well  where  he  is,  he  ought  to  stay 
there,  and  not  to  be  thinking  of  the  joy  it  would  give  his  old 
father  to  see  him  again.  The  King's  service  has  the  first 
claim." 

Scarcely  one  of  those  present  heard  the  words  without  a 
shudder.  Justice  might  give  over  a  d'Esgrignon  to  the  execu- 
tioner's branding-iron.  There  was  a  dreadful  pause.  The 
old  Marquise  de  Casteran  could  not  keep  back  a  tear  that  stole 
down  over  her  rouge,  and  turned  her  half-palsied  head  away 
to  hide  it. 

Next  day  at  noon,  in  the  sunny  weather,  a  whole  excited 
population  was  dispersed  in  groups  along  the  high  street,  which 
ran  through  the  heart  of  the  town,  and  nothing  was  talked  of 
but  the  great  affair.  Was  the  count  in  prison  or  was  he  not  ? 
All  at  once  the  Comte  d'Esgrignon's  well-known  tilbury  was 
seen  driving  down  the  Rue  Saint-Blaise ;  it  had  evidently  come 
from  the  prefecture,  the  count  himself  was  on  the  box-seat, 
and  by  his  side  sat  a  charming  young  man,  whom  nobody 
recognized.  The  pair  were  laughing  and  talking  and  in 
great  spirits.  They  wore  Bengal  roses  in  their  button-holes. 
Altogether,  it  was  a  theatrical  surprise  which  words  would 
fail  to  describe. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  court  had  decided  to  dismiss  the  charge, 
stating  their  very  sufficient  reasons  for  setting  the  count  at 
liberty,  in  a  document  which  contained  a  thunderbolt  for  du 
Croisier,  in  the  shape  of  an  "  Inasmuch  "  that  gave  the  count 
the  right  to  institute  proceedings  for  libel.  Old  Chesnel  was 
walking  up  the  Grande  Rue,  as  if  by  accident,  telling  all  who 
cared  to  hear  him  that  du  Croisier  had  set  the  most  shameful 
snares  for  the  d'Esgrignons'  honor,  and  that  it  was  entirely 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN.        307 

owing  to  the  forbearance  and  magnanimity  of  the  family  that 
he  was  not  prosecuted  for  slander. 

On  the  evening  of  that  famous  day,  after  the  Marquis  d'Es- 
grignon  had  gone  to  bed,  the  count,  Mile.  Armande,  and  the 
chevalier  were  left  with  the  handsome  young  page,  now  about 
to  return  to  Paris.  The  charming  cavalier's  sex  could  not  be 
hidden  from  the  chevalier,  and  he  alone,  beside  the  three  offi- 
cials and  Mme.  Camusot,  knew  that  the  duchess  had  been 
among  them. 

"  The  house  is  saved,"  began  Chesnel,  "  but  after  this  shock 
it  will  take  a  hundred  years  to  rise  again.  The  debts  must  be 
paid  now ;  you  must  marry  an  heiress,  Monsieur  le  Comte, 
there  is  nothing  else  left  for  you  to  do." 

"  And  take  her  where  you  can  find  her,"  said  the  duchess. 

"A  second  mesalliance  /"  exclaimed  Mile.  Armande. 

The  duchess  began  to  laugh. 

"It  is  better  to  marry  than  to  die,"  said  she.  As  she 
spoke  she  drew  from  her  waistcoat  pocket  a  tiny  crystal  phial 
that  came  from  the  court  apothecary. 

Mile.  Armande  shrank  away  in  horror.  Old  Chesnel  took 
the  fair  Maufrigneuse's  hand,  and  kissed  it  without  permission. 

"Are  you  all  out  of  your  minds  here?"  continued  the 
duchess.  "  Do  you  really  expect  to  live  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury when  the  rest  of  the  world  has  reached  the  nineteenth  ? 
My  dear  children,  there  is  no  noblesse  nowadays  ;  there  is  no 
aristocracy  left  !  Napoleon's  Code  Civil  made  an  end  of  the 
parchments,  exactly  as  cannon  made  an  end  of  feudal  castles. 
When  you  have  some  money,  you  will  be  very  much  more  of 
nobles  than  you  are  now.  Marry  anybody  you  please,  Vic- 
turnien,  you  will  raise  your  wife  to  your  rank  ;  that  is  the 
most  substantial  privilege  left  to  the  French  noblesse.  Did 
not  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand  marry  Madame  Grandt  without 
compromising  his  position  ?  Remember  that  Louis  XIV.  took 
the  Widow  Scarron  for  his  wife." 


308         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

"He  did  not  marry  her  for  her  money,"  interposed  Mile. 
Armande. 

"  If  the  Comtesse  d'Esgrignon  were  one  du  Croisier's 
niece,  for  instance,  would  you  receive  her?"  asked  Chesnel. 

"Perhaps,"  replied  the  duchess;  "but  the  King,  beyond 
all  doubt,  would  be  very  glad  to  see  her.  So  you  do  not 
know  what  is  going  on  in  the  world  ?  "  continued  she,  seeing 
the  amazement  in  their  faces.  "Victurnien  has  been  in 
Paris ;  he  knows  how  things  go  there.  We  had  more  influ- 
ence under  Napoleon.  Marry  Mademoiselle  Duval,  Victur- 
nien; she  will  be  just  as  much  Marquise  d.'Esgrignon  as  I  am 
Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse." 

"  All  is  lost — even  honor !  "  said  the  chevalier,  with  a  wave 
of  the  hand. 

"  Farewell,  Victurnien,"  said  the  duchess,  kissing  her  lover 
on  the  forehead;  "we  shall  not  see  each  other  again.  Live 
on  your  lands ;  that  is  the  best  thing  for  you  to  do ;  the  air 
of  Paris  is  not  at  all  good  for  you." 

"  Diane  !  "  the  young  count  cried  despairingly. 

"Monsieur,  you  forget  yourself  strangely,"  the  duchess 
retorted  coolly,  as  she  laid  aside  her  role  of  man  and  mistress, 
and  became  not  merely  an  angel  again,  but  a  duchess,  and  not 
only  a  duchess,  but  Moliere's  Celimene. 

The  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse  made  a  stately  bow  to  these 
four  personages,  and  drew  from  the  chevalier  his  last  tear  of 
admiration  at  the  service  of  le  beau  sexe. 

"  How  like  she  is  to  the  Princess  Goritza  !  "  he  exclaimed 
in  a  low  voice. 

Diane  had  disappeared.  The  crack  of  the  postillion's  whip 
told  Victurnien  that  the  fair  romance  of  his  first  love  was 
over.  While  the  peril  lasted,  Diane  could  still  see  her  lover 
in  the  young  count ;  but  out  of  danger,  she  despised  him  for 
the  weakling  that  he  was. 

Six  months   afterward,  Camusot  received  the  appointment 


THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        309 

of  assistant  judge  at  Paris,  and  later  he  became  an  examining 
magistrate.  Goodman  Blondet  was  made  a  councilor  to  the 
Court-Royal ;  he  held  the  post  just  long  enough  to  secure  a 
retiring  pension,  and  then  went  back  to  live  in  his  pretty 
little  house.  Joseph  Blondet  sat  in  his  father's  seat  at  the 
court  till  the  end  of  his  days;  there  was  not  the  faintest 
chance  of  promotion  for  him,  but  he  became  Mile.  Blan- 
dureau's  husband  ;  and  she,  no  doubt,  is  leading  to-day,  in 
the  little  flower-covered  brick  house,  as  dull  a  life  as  any  carp 
in  a  marble  basin.  Michu  and  Camusot  also  received  the 
cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  while  Blondet  became  an 
officer.  As  for  M.  Sauvager,  deputy  public  prosecutor,  he 
was  sent  to  Corsica,  to  du  Croisier's  great  relief;  he  had 
decidedly  no  mind  to  bestow  his  niece  upon  that  functionary. 

Du  Croisier  himself,  urged  by  President  du  Ronceret,  ap- 
pealed from  the  finding  of  the  Tribunal  to  the  Court-Royal, 
and  lost  his  cause.  The  Liberals  throughout  the  department 
held  that  little  d'Esgrignon  was  guilty;  while  the  Royalists, 
on  the  other  hand,  told  frightful  stories  of  plots  woven  by 
"that  abominable  du  Croisier "  to  compass  his  revenge.  A 
duel  was  fought  indeed ;  the  hazard  of  arms  favored  du 
Croisier,  the  young  count  was  dangerously  wounded,  and  his 
antagonist  maintained  his  words.  This  affair  embittered  the 
strife  between  the  two  parties;  the  Liberals  brought  it  for- 
ward on  all  occasions.  Meanwhile  du  Croisier  never  coufd 
carry  his  election,  and  saw  no  hope  of  marrying  his  niece  to 
the  count,  especially  after  the  duel. 

A  month  after  the  decision  of  the  Tribunal  was  confirmed 
in  the  Court-Royal,  Chesnel  died,  exhausted  by  the  dreadful 
strain,  which  had  weakened  and  shaken  him  mentally  and 
physically.  He  died  in  the  hour  of  victory,  like  some  old 
faithful  hound  that  has  brought  the  boar  to  bay,  and  gets  his 
death  on  the  tusks.  He  died  as  happily  as  might  be,  seeing 
that  he  left  the  great  House  all  but  ruined,  and  the  heir  in 
penury,  bored  to  death  by  an  idle  life,  and  without  a  hope  of 


310         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY  TOWN. 

establishing  himself.  That  bitter  thought  and  his  own  ex- 
haustion, no  doubt,  hastened  the  old  man's  end.  One  great 
comfort  came  to  him  as  he  lay  amid  the  wreck  of  so  many 
hopes,  sinking  under  the  burden  of  so  many  cares — the  old 
marquis,  at  his  sister's  entreaty,  gave  him  back  all  the  old 
friendship.  The  great  lord  came  to  the  little  house  in  the 
Rue  du  Bercail,  and  sat  by  his  old  servant's  bedside,  all  un- 
aware how  much  that  servant  had  done  and  sacrificed  for  him. 
Chesnel  sat  upright  and  repeated  Simeon's  cry — nunc  dimittis. 
The  marquis  allowed  them  to  bury  Chesnel  in  the  castle 
chapel ;  they  laid  him  crosswise  at  the  foot  of  the  tomb  which 
was  waiting  for  the  marquis  himself,  the  last,  in  a  sense,  of 
the  d'Esgrignons. 

And  so  died  one  of  the  last  representatives  of  that  great 
and  beautiful  thing,  Service ;  giving  to  that  often  discredited 
word  its  original  meaning,  the  relation  between  feudal  lord 
and  servitor.  That  relation,  only  to  be  found  in  some  out-of- 
the-way  province  or  among  a  few  old  servants  of  the  King,  did 
honor  alike  to  a  noblesse  that  could  call  forth  such  affection, 
and  to  a  bourgeoisie  that  could  conceive  it.  Such  noble  and 
magnificent  devotion  is  no  longer  possible  among  us.  Noble 
houses  have  no  servitors  left ;  even  as  France  has  no  longer  a 
King,  nor  an  hereditary  peerage,  nor  lands  that  are  bound 
irrevocably  to  a  historic  house,  that  the  glorious  names  of  a 
nation  may  be  perpetuated.  Chesnel  was  not  merely  one  of 
the  obscure  great  men  of  private  life ;  he  was  something  more 
— he  was  a  great  fact.  In  his  sustained  self-devotion  is  there 
not  something  indefinably  solemn  and  sublime,  something 
that  rises  above  the  one  beneficent  deed,  or  the  heroic  height 
which  is  reached  by  a  moment's  supreme  effort  ?  Chesnel's 
virtues  belong  essentially  to  the  classes  which  stand  between 
the  poverty  of  the  people  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  greatness 
of  the  aristocracy  on  the  other ;  for  these  can  combine  homely 
burgher  virtues  with  the  heroic  ideals  of  the  noble,  enlighten- 
ing both  by  a  solid  education. 


THE  JEALOUSIES   Of  A    COUNTRY  TOWN.        311 

Victurnien  was  not  well  looked  upon  at  Court ;  there  was 
no  more  chance  of  a  great  match  for  him,  nor  a  place.  His 
majesty  steadily  refused  to  raise  the  d'Esgrignons  to  the  peer- 
age, the  one  royal  favor  which  could  rescue  Victurnien  from 
his  wretched  position.  It  was  impossible  that  he  should  marry 
a  bourgeoise  heiress  in  his  father's  lifetime,  so  he  was  bound 
to  live  on  shabbily  under  the  paternal  roof  with  memories  of 
his  two  years  of  splendor  in  Paris,  and  the  lost  love  of  a  great 
lady  to  bear  him  company.  He  grew  moody  and  depressed, 
vegetating  at  home  with  a  careworn  aunt  and  a  half  broken- 
hearted father,  who  attributed  his  son's  condition  to  a  wasting 
malady.  Chesnel  was  no  longer  there. 

The  marquis  died  in  1830.  The  great  d'Esgrignon,  with  a 
following  of  all  the  less  infirm  noblesse  from  the  Collection 
of  Antiquities,  went  to  wait  upon  Charles  X.  at  Nonancourt ; 
he  paid  his  respects  to  his  sovereign,  and  swelled  the  meagre 
train  of  the  fallen  king.  It  was  an  act  of  courage  which  seems 
simple  enough  to-day,  but,  in  that  time  of  enthusiastic  revolt, 
it  was  heroism. 

"The  Gaul  has  conquered!"  These  were  the  marquis' 
last  words. 

By  that  time  du  Croisier's  victory  was  complete.  The  new 
Marquis  d'Esgrignon  accepted  Mile.  Duval  as  his  wife  a  week 
after  his  old  father's  death.  His  bride  brought  him  three 
millions  of  francs,  for  du  Croisier  and  his  wife  settled  the 
reversion  of  their  fortunes  upon  her  in  the  marriage-contract. 
Du  Croisier  took  occasion  to  say  during  the  ceremony  that 
the  d'Esgrignon  family  was  the  most  honorable  of  all  the 
ancient  houses  in  France. 

Some  day  the  present  Marquis  d'Esgrignon  will  have  an 
income  of  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  crowns.  You  may 
see  him  in  Paris,  for  he  comes  to  town  every  winter  and  leads 
a  jolly  bachelor  life,  while  he  treats  his  wife  with  something 
more  than  the  indifference  of  the  grand  seigneur  of  olden 
times;  he  takes  no  thought  whatever  for  her. 


312         THE  JEALOUSIES   OF  A    COUNTRY   TOWN. 

"As  for  Mademoiselle  d'Esgrignon,"  said  Emile  Blondet, 
to  whom  all  the  detail  of  the  story  is  due,  "  if  she  is  no  longer 
like  the  divinely  fair  woman  whom  I  saw  by  glimpses  in  my 
childhood,  she  is  decidedly,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven,  the  most 
pathetic  and  interesting  figure  in  the  Collection  of  Antiquities. 
She  queens  it  among  them  still.  I  saw  her  when  I  made  my 
last  journey  to  my  native  place  in  search  of  the  necessary 
papers  for  my  marriage.  When  my  father  knew  whom  it  was 
that  I  had  married,  he  was  struck  dumb  with  amazement ;  he 
had  not  a  word  to  say  until  I  told  him  that  I  was  a  prefect. 

"  'You  were  born  to  it,'  he  said,  with  a  smile. 

"As  I  took  a  walk  round  the  town,  I  met  Mademoiselle 
Armande.  She  looked  taller  than  ever.  I  looked  at  her,  and 
thought  of  Marius  among  the  ruins  of  Carthage.  Had  she 
not  outlived  her  creed,  and  the  beliefs  that  had  been  de- 
stroyed? She  is  a  sad  and  silent  woman,  with  nothing  of  her 
old  beauty  left  except  the  eyes,  that  shine  with  an  unearthly 
light.  I  watched  her  on  her  way  to  mass,  with  her  book  in 
her  hand,  and  could  not  help  thinking  that  she  prayed  God 
to  take  her  out  of  the  world." 

LES  JARDIES,  July,  1837. 


A  MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT 

(Lc  Contrat  de  Manage). 

TRANSLATED  BY  CLARA  BELL. 

To  G.  Rossini. 

MONSIEUR  DE  MANERVILLE  the  elder  was  a  worthy  gentle- 
man of  Normandy,  well  known  to  the  Marechal  de  Richelieu, 
who  arranged  his  marriage  with  one  of  the  richest  heiresses  of 
Bordeaux  at  the  time  when  the  old  duke  held  court  in  that 
city  as  governor  of  Guienne.  The  Norman  gentleman  sold 
the  lands  he  owned  in  Bessin,  and  established  himself  as 
a  Gascon,  tempted  to  this  step  by  the  beauty  of  the  estate 
of  Lanstrac,  a  delightful  residence  belonging  to  his  wife. 
Toward  the  end  of  Louis  XV.'s  reign,  he  purchased  the  post 
of  major  of  the  King's  bodyguard,  and  lived  till  1813,  having 
happily  survived  the  Revolution. 

This  was  how:  In  the  winter  of  1790  he  made  a  voyage  to 
Martinique,  where  his  wife  had  property,  leaving  the  manage- 
ment of  his  estates  in  Gascony  to  a  worthy  notary's  clerk 
named  Mathias,  who  had  some  taint  of  the  new  ideas.  On 
his  return,  the  Comte  de  Manerville  found  his  possessions  safe 
and  profitably  managed.  This  shrewdness  was  the  fruit  of  a 
graft  of  the  Gascon  on  the  Norman. 

Madame  de  Manerville  died  in  1810.  Her  husband,  having 
learned  by  the  dissipations  of  his  youth  the  importance  of 
money,  and,  like  many  old  men,  ascribing  to  it  a  greater 
power  in  life  than  it  possesses,  became  progressively  thrifty, 
avaricious,  and  mean.  Forgetting  that  stingy  fathers  make 
spendthrift  sons,  he  allowed  scarcely  anything  to  his  son, 
though  he  was  an  only  child. 

Paul  de  Manerville  came  home  from  college  at  Vendome 

(313) 


314  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

toward  the  end  of  1810,  and  for  three  years  lived  under  his 
father's  rule.  The  tyranny  exercised  by  the  old  man  of  sixty- 
nine  over  his  sole  heir  could  not  fail  to  affect  a  heart  and 
character  as  yet  unformed.  Though  he  did  not  lack  the 
physical  courage  which  would  seem  to  be  in  the  air  of  Gas- 
cony,  Paul  dared  not  contend  with  his  father,  and  lost  the 
elasticity  of  resistance  that  gives  rise  to  moral  courage.  His 
suppressed  feelings  were  pent  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  where 
he  kept  them  long  in  reserve  without  daring  to  express  them ; 
thus,  at  a  later  time,  when  he  felt  that  they  were  not  in  accord- 
ance with  the  maxims  of  the  world,  though  he  could  think 
rightly,  he  could  act  wrongly.  He  would  have  fought  at  a 
word,  while  he  quaked  at  the  thought  of  sending  away  a  ser- 
vant ;  for  his  shyness  found  a  field  in  any  struggle  which  de- 
manded persistent  determination. 

He  was  a  prisoner  in  his  father's  old  house,  for  he  had  not 
money  enough  to  disport  himself  with  the  young  men  of  the 
town ;  he  envied  them  their  amusements,  but  could  not  share 
them.  The  old  gentleman  took  him  out  every  evening  in  an 
antique  vehicle,  drawn  by  a  pair  of  shabbily  harnessed  horses, 
attended  by  two  antique  and  shabbily  dressed  menservants, 
into  the  society  of  a  Royalist  clique,  consisting  of  the  waifs  of 
the  nobility  of  the  old  Parlement  and  of  the  sword.  These 
two  bodies  of  magnates,  uniting  after  the  Revolution  to  resist 
Imperial  influence,  had  by  degrees  become  an  aristocracy  of 
landowners.  Overpowered  by  the  wealth  and  the  shifting 
fortunes  of  a  great  seaport,  this  "  Saint-Germain  "  suburb  of 
Bordeaux  responded  with  scorn  to  the  magnificence  of  com- 
merce and  of  the  civil  and  military  authorities. 

His  so  monotonous  existence  might  have  killed  the  young 
man,  but  that  his  father's  death  delivered  him  from  this 
tyranny  at  the  time  when  it  was  becoming  unendurable.  Paul 
found  that  his  father's  avarice  had  accumulated  a  considerable 
fortune,  and  left  him  an  estate  in  the  most  splendid  possible 
order;  but  he  had  a  horror  of  Bordeaux,  and  no  love  for 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  315 

Lanstrac,  where  his  father  had  always  spent  the  summer  and 
kept  him  out  shooting  from  morning  till  night. 

As  soon  as  the  legal  business  was  completed,  the  young 
heir,  eager  for  pleasure,  invested  his  capital  in  securities,  left 
the  management  of  the  land  to  old  Mathias,  his  father's  agent, 
and  spent  six  years  away  from  Bordeaux.  Attache  at  first  to 
the  embassy  at  Naples,  he  subsequently  went  as  secretary  to 
Madrid  and  London,  thus  making  the  tour  of  Europe.  After 
gaining  knowledge  of  the  world,  and  dissipating  a  great  many 
illusions,  after  spending  all  the  money  his  father  had  saved,  a 
moment  came  when  Paul,  to  continue  this  dashing  existence, 
had  to  draw  on  the  revenues  from  his  estate  which  the  notary 
had  saved  for  him.  So,  at  this  critical  moment,  struck  by. 
one  of  those  impulses  which  are  regarded  as  wisdom,  he  re- 
solved to  leave  Paris,  to  return  to  Bordeaux,  to  manage  his 
own  affairs,  to  lead  the  life  of  a  country  gentleman,  settling 
at  Lanstrac  and  improving  his  estate — to  marry,  and  one  day 
to  be  elected  deputy. 

Paul  was  a  count ;  titles  were  recovering  their  value  in  the 
matrimonial  market;  he  could,  and  ought  to  marry  well. 
Though  many  women  wish  to  marry  for  a  title,  a  great  many 
more  look  for  a  husband  who  has  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  life.  And  Paul — at  a  cost  of  seven  hundred  thousand 
francs,  consumed  in  six  years — had  acquired  this  official 
knowledge,  a  qualification  which  cannot  be  sold,  and  which 
is  worth  more  than  a  stockbroker's  license  ;  which,  indeed, 
demands  long  studies,  an  apprenticeship,  examinations,  ac- 
quaintances, friends,  and  enemies,  a  certain  elegance  of  appear- 
ance, good  manners,  and  a  handsome,  tripping  name ;  which 
brings  with  it  success  with  women,  duels,  betting  at  races, 
many  disappointments,  dull  hours,  tiresome  tasks,  and  indi- 
gestible pleasures. 

In  spite  of  lavish  outlay,  he  had  never  been  the  fashion.  In 
the  burlesque  army  of  the  gay  world,  the  man  who  is  the 
fashion  is  the  field-marshal  of  the  forces,  the  merely  elegant 


316  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

man  is  the  lieutenant-general.  Still,  Paul  enjoyed  his  little 
reputation  for  elegance,  and  lived  up  to  it.  His  servants 
were  well  drilled,  his  carriages  were  approved,  his  suppers  had 
some  success,  and  his  bachelor's  den  was  one  of  the  seven  or 
eight  which  were  a  match  in  luxury  for  the  finest  houses  in 
Paris.  But  he  had  not  broken  a  woman's  heart ;  he  played 
without  losing,  nor  had  he  extraordinarily  brilliant  luck ;  he 
was  too  honest  to  be  false  to  any  one,  even  a  girl  of  the  streets; 
he  did  not  leave  his  love-letters  about,  nor  keep  a  boxful  for 
his  friends  to  dip  into  while  he  was  shaving  or  putting  a  collar 
on ;  but,  not  wishing  to  damage  his  estates  in  Guienne,  he 
had  not  the  audacity  that  prompts  a  young  man  into  startling 
speculations  and  attracts  all  eyes  to  watch  him ;  he  borrowed 
of  no  one,  and  was  so  wrong-headed  as  to  lend  to  friends,  who 
cut  him  and  never  mentioned  him  again,  either  for  good  or 
evil.  He  seemed  to  have  worked  out  the  sum  of  his  extrava- 
gance. The  secret  of  his  character  lay  in  his  father's  tyranny, 
which  had  made  him  a  sort  of  social  hybrid. 

One  morning  Paul  de  Manerville  said  to  a  friend  of  his 
named  de  Marsay,  who  has  since  become  famous — 

"  My  dear  fellow,  life  has  a  meaning." 

"You  must  be  seven-and-twenty  before  you  understand  it," 
said  de  Marsay,  laughing  at  him. 

"Yes,  I  am  seven-and-twenty,  and  for  that  very  reason  I 
mean  to  go  and  live  at  Lanstrac  as  a  country  gentleman.  At 
Bordeaux  I  shall  have  my  father's  old  house,  whither  I  shall 
send  my  Paris  furniture,  and  I  shall  spend  three  months  of 
every  winter  here  in  my  rooms,  which  I  shall  not  give  up." 

"And  you  will  marry?" 

"I  shall  marry." 

"I  am  your  friend,  my  worthy  Paul,  as  you  know,"  said 
de  Marsay,  after  a  moment's  silence;  "  well,  be  a  good  father 
and  a  good  husband — and  ridiculous  for  the  rest  of  your  days. 
If  you  could  be  happy  being  ridiculous,  the  matter  would  de- 


A    MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT,  317 

serve  consideration  ;  but  you  would  not  be  happy.  You  have 
not  a  strong  enough  hand  to  rule  a  household.  I  do  you 
every  justice :  you  are  a  perfect  horseman  ;  no  one  holds  the 
ribbons  better,  makes  a  horse  plunge,  or  keeps  his  seat  more 
immovably.  But,  my  dear  boy,  the  paces  of  matrimony  are 
quite  another  thing.  Why,  I  can  see  you  led  at  a  round  pace 
by  Madame  la  Comtesse  de  Manerville,  galloping,  more  often 
than  not  much  against  your  will,  and  presently  thrown — thrown 
into  the  ditch,  and  left  there  with  both  legs  broken  ! 

"  Listen  to  me.  You  have  still  forty-odd  thousand  francs 
a  year  in  land  in  the  Department  of  the  Gironde.  Take  your 
horses  and  your  servants,  and  furnish  your  house  in  Bordeaux; 
you  will  be  King  in  Bordeaux,  you  will  promulgate  there  the 
decrees  we  pronounce  in  Paris,  you  will  be  the  corresponding 
agent  of  our  follies.  Well  and  good.  Commit  follies  in  your 
provincial  capital — nay,  even  absurdities.  So  much  the  bet- 
ter ;  they  may  make  you  famous.  But — do  not  marry. 

' '  Who  are  the  men  who  marry  nowadays  ?  Tradesmen,  to 
increase  their  capital  or  to  have  a  second  hand  at  the  plough ; 
peasants,  who,  by  having  large  families,  manufacture  their 
own  laborers ;  stockbrokers  or  notaries,  to  get  money  to  pay 
for  their  licenses  ;  the  miserable  kings,  to  perpetuate  their 
miserable  dynasties.  We  alone  are  free  from  the  pack-saddle ; 
why  insist  on  loading  yourself?  In  short,  what  do  you  marry 
for  ?  You  must  account  for  such  a  step  to  your  best  friend. 

"  In  the  first  place,  if  you  should  find  an  heiress  as  rich  as 
yourself,  eighty  thousand  francs  a  year  for  two  are  not  the 
same  thing  as  forty  thousand  for  one,  because  you  very  soon 
are  three — and  four  if  you  have  a  child.  Do  you  really  feel 
any  affection  for  the  foolish  propagation  of  Manervilles,  who 
will  never  give  you  anything  but  trouble  ?  Do  you  not  know 
what  the  duties  are  of  a  father  and  mother  ?  Marriage,  my 
dear  Paul,  is  the  most  foolish  of  social  sacrifices ;  our  children 
alone  profit  by  it,  and  even  they  do  not  know  its  cost  till  their 
horses  are  cropping  the  weeds  that  grow  over  our  graves. 


318  A    MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

"  Do  you,  for  instance,  regret  your  father,  the  tyrant  who 
wrecked  your  young  life  ?  How  do  you  propose  to  make  your 
children  love  you?  Your  plans  for  their  education,  your  care 
for  their  advantage,  your  severity,  however  necessary,  will 
alienate  their  affection.  Children  love  a  lavish  or  weak  father, 
but  later  they  will  despise  him.  You  are  stranded  between 
aversion  and  contempt.  You  cannot  be  a  good  father  for  the 
wishing. 

"  Look  round  on  our  friends,  and  name  one  you  would  like 
for  a  son.  We  have  known  some  who  were  a  disgrace  to 
their  name.  Children,  my  dear  boy,  are  a  commodity  very 
difficult  to  keep  sweet.  Yours  will  be  angels  !  No  doubt ! 

"But  have  you  ever  measured  the  gulf  that  separates  the 
life  of  a  single  man  from  that  of  a  married  one?  Listen. 
As  you  are,  you  can  say :  '  I  will  never  be  ridiculous  beyond 
a  certain  point ;  the  public  shall  never  think  of  me  excepting 
as  I  choose  that  it  should  think.'  Married,  you  will  fall  into 
depths  of  the  ridiculous !  Unmarried,  you  make  your  own 
happiness ;  you  want  it  to-day,  you  do  without  it  to-morrow : 
married,  you  take  it  as  it  comes,  and  the  day  you  seek  it  you 
have  to  do  without  it.  Married,  you  are  an  ass ;  you  calcu- 
late marriage-portions,  you  talk  about  public  and  religious 
morality,  you  look  upon  young  men  as  immoral  and  danger- 
ous ;  in  short,  you  are  socially  Academical.  I  have  nothing 
but  pity  for  you !  An  old  bachelor,  whose  relations  are  wait- 
ing for  his  money,  and  who  struggles  with  his  latest  breath  to 
make  an  old  nurse  give  him  something  to  drink,  is  in  paradise 
compared  with  a  married  man.  I  say  nothing  of  all  the 
annoying,  irritating,  provoking,  aggravating,  stultifying,  wor- 
rying things  that  may  come  to  hypnotize  and  paralyze  your 
mind  and  tyrannize  over  your  life,  in  the  course  of  the  petty 
warfare  of  two  human  beings  always  together,  united  for  ever, 
who  have  bound  themselves,  vainly  believing  that  they  will 
agree;  no,  that  would  be  to  repeat  Boileau's  '  Satire,'  and  we 
know  it  by  heart. 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  319 

"  I  would  forgive  you  the  absurd  notion  if  you  would 
promise  to  marry  like  a  grandee,  to  settle  your  fortune  on  your 
eldest  son,  to  take  advantage  of  the  honeymoon  stage  to  have 
two  legitimate  children,  to  give  your  wife  a  completely  separate 
establishment,  to  meet  her  only  in  society,  and  never  come 
home  from  a  journey  without  announcing  your  return.  Two 
hundred  thousand  francs  a  year  are  enough  to  do  it  on,  and 
your  antecedents  allow  of  your  achieving  this  by  finding  some 
rich  Englishwoman  hungering  for  a  title.  That  aristocratic 
way  of  life  is  the  only  one  that  seems  to  me  truly  French ; 
the  only  handsome  one,  commanding  a  wife's  respect  and 
regard ;  the  only  life  that  distinguishes  us  from  the  common 
herd  ;  in  short,  the  only  one  for  which  a  young  man  should 
ever  give  up  his  single  blessedness.  In  such  an  attitude  the 
Comte  de  Manerville  is  an  example  to  his  age,  he  is  superior 
to  the  general,  and  must  be  nothing  less  than  a  minister  or  an 
ambassador.  He  can  never  be  ridiculous;  he  conquers  the 
social  advantages  of  a  married  man,  and  preserves  the  privi- 
leges of  a  bachelor." 

"  But,  my  good  friend,  I  am  not  a  de  Marsay;  I  am,  as 
you  yourself  do  me  the  honor  to  express  it,  Paul  de  Maner- 
ville, neither  more  nor  less,  a  good  husband  and  father, 
deputy  of  the  Centre,  and  perhaps  some  day  a  peer  of  the 
Upper  House — altogether  a  very  humble  destiny.  But  I  am 
diffident — and  resigned." 

"  And  your  wife,"  said  the  merciless  de  Marsay,  "  will  she 
be  resigned  ?  " 

"  My  wife,  my  dear  fellow,  will  do  what  I  wish." 

"  Oh !  my  poor  friend,  have  you  not  got  beyond  that 
point?  Farewell,  Paul.  Henceforth  you  have  forfeited  my 
esteem.  Still,  one  word  more,  for  I  cannot  subscribe  to  your 
abdication  in  cold  blood.  Consider  what  is  the  strength  of 
our  position.  If  a  single  man  had  no  more  than  six  thousand 
francs  a  year,  if  his  whole  fortune  lay  in  his  reputation  for 
elegance  and  the  memory  of  his  successes,  well,  even  this 


320  A   MARRTAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

fantastic  ghost  has  considerable  value.  Life  still  affords  some 
chances  for  the  bachelor  '  off  color. '  Yes,  he  may  still 
aspire  to  anything.  But  marriage  !  Paul,  it  is  the  '  Thus  far 
and  no  further '  of  social  existence.  Once  married,  you  can 
never  more  be  anything  but  what  you  are — unless  your  wife 
condescends  to  take  you  in  hand." 

"  But  you  are  always  crushing  me  under  your  exceptional 
theories  !  "  cried  Paul.  "  I  am  tired  of  living  for  the  benefit 
of  others — of  keeping  horses  for  display,  of  doing  everything 
with  a  view  to  'what  people  will  say,'  of  ruining  myself  for 
fear  that  idiots  should  remark  :  '  Why,  Paul  has  the  same  old 
carriage !  What  has  he  done  with  his  money  ?  Does  he 
squander  it  ?  Gamble  on  the  Bourse  ?  Not  at  all ;  he  is  a 
millionaire.  Madame  So-and-so  is  madly  in  love  with  him. 
He  has  just  had  a  team  of  horses  from  England,  the  hand- 
somest in  Paris.  At  Longchamps,  every  one  remarked  the 
four-horse  chaises  of  Monsieur  de  Marsay  and  Monsieur  de 
Manerville;  the  cattle  were  magnificent.'  In  short,  the  thou- 
sand idiotic  remarks  by  which  the  mob  of  fools  drives  us. 

"I  am  beginning  to  see  that  this  life,  in  which  we  are 
simply  rolled  along  by  others  instead  of  walking  on  our  feet, 
wears  us  out  and  makes  us  old.  Believe  me,  my  dear  Henri, 
I  admire  your  powers,  but  I  do  not  envy  you.  You  are  capa- 
ble of  judging  everything ;  you  can  act  and  think  as  a  states- 
man, you  stand  above  general  laws,  received  ideas,  recognized 
prejudices,  accepted  conventionalities;  in  fact,  you  get  all 
the  benefits  of  a  position  in  which  I,  for  my  part,  should  find 
nothing  but  disaster.  Ygur  cold  and  systematic  deductions, 
which  are  perhaps  quite  true,  are,  in  the  eyes  of  the  vulgar, 
appallingly  immoral.  I  belong  to  the  vulgar. 

"  I  must  play  the  game  by  the  rules  of  the  society  in  which  I 
am  compelled  to  live.  You  can  stand  on  the  summit  of  human 
things,  on  ice-peaks,  and  still  have  feelings;  I  should  freeze 
there.  The  life  of  the  greatest  number,  of  which  I  am  very 
frankly  one,  is  made  up  of  emotions  such  as  I  feel  at  present 


A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  321 

in  need  of.  The  most  popular  lady's  man  often  flirts  with 
ten  women  at  once,  and  wins  the  favor  of  none ;  and  then, 
whatever  his  gifts,  his  practice,  his  knowledge  of  the  world,  a 
crisis  may  arise  when  he  finds  himself,  as  it  were,  jammed 
between  two  doors.  For  my  part,  I  like  the  quiet  and  faith- 
ful intercourse  of  home ;  I  want  the  life  where  a  man  always 
finds  a  woman  at  his  side." 

"  Marriage  is  a  little  free  and  easy  !  "  cried  de  Marsay. 

Paul  was  not  to  be  dashed,  and  went  on — 

"Laugh  if  you  please;  I  shall  be  the  happiest  man  in  the 
world  when  my  servant  comes  to  say :  '  Madame  is  waiting 
breakfast ' — when,  on  coming  home  in  the  afternoon,  I  may 
find  a  heart " 

"  You  are  still  too  frivolous,  Paul !  You  are  not  moral 
enough  yet  for  married  life  !  " 

"  A  heart  to  which  I  may  confide  my  business  and  tell  my 
secrets.  I  want  to  live  with  some  being  on  terms  of  such 
intimacy  that  our  affection  may  not  depend  on  a  YES  or  No, 
or  on  situations  where  the  most  engaging  man  may  disappoint 
passion.  In  short,  I  am  bold  enough  to  become,  as  you  say, 
a  good  husband  and  a  good  father  !  I  am  suited  to  domestic 
happiness,  and  prepared  to  submit  to  the  conditions  insisted 
on  by  society  to  set  up  a  wife,  a  family ' ' 

"You  suggest  the  idea  of  a  beehive.  Go  ahead,  then. 
You  will  be  a  dupe  all  your  days.  You  mean  to  marry,  to 
have  a  wife  to  yourself?  In  other  words,  you  want  to  solve, 
to  your  own  advantage,  the  most  difficult  social  problem  pre- 
sented in  our  day  by  town  life  as  the  French  Revolution  has 
left  it,  so  you  begin  by  isolation  !  And  do  you  suppose  that 
your  wife  will  be  content  to  forego  the  life  you  contemn?  Will 
she,  like  you,  be  disgusted  with  it  ?  If  you  do  not  want  to 
endure  the  conjugal  joys  described  by  your  sincere  friend  de 
Marsay,  listen  to  my  last  advice.  Remain  unmarried  for 
thirteen  years  longer,  and  enjoy  yourself  to  the  top  of  your 
bent ;  then,  at  forty,  with  your  first  fit  of  the  gout,  marry  a 
21 


322  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

widow  of  six-and-thirty ;  thus  you  may  be  happy.  If  you 
take  a  maid  to  wife,  you  will  die  a  madman  !  " 

"Indeed!  And  tell  me  why?"  cried  Paul,  somewhat 
nettled. 

"My  dear  fellow,"  replied  de  Marsay,  "Boileau's  'Satire 
on  Women  '  is  no  more  than  a  series  of  commonplace  observa- 
tions in  verse.  Why  should  women  be  faultless  ?  Why  deny 
them  the  heritage  of  the  most  obvious  possession  of  human 
nature  ?  In  my  opinion,  the  problem  of  marriage  no  longer 
lies  in  the  form  in  which  that  critic  discerned  it.  Do  you 
really  suppose  that,  to  command  affection  in  marriage,  as  in 
love,  it  is  enough  for  a  husband  to  be  a  man?  You  who 
haunt  boudoirs,  have  you  none  but  fortunate  experiences  ? 

"  Everything  in  our  bachelor  existence  prepares  a  disastrous 
mistake  for  the  man  who  .marries  without  having  deeply 
studied  the  human  heart.  In  the  golden  days  of  youth,  by  a 
singular  fact  in  our  manners,  a  man  always  bestows  pleasure, 
he  triumphs  over  fascinated  woman,  and  she  submits  to  his 
wishes.  The  obstacles  set  up  by  law  and  feeling,  and  the 
natural  coyness  of  woman,  give  rise  to  a  common  impulse  on 
both  sides,  which  deludes  superficial  men  as  to  their  future 
position  in  the  married  state  where  there  are  no  obstacles  to 
be  overcome,  where  women  endure  rather  than  allow  a  man's 
advances,  and  repel  them  rather  than  invite  them.  The  whole 
aspect  of  life  is  altered  for  us.  The  unmarried  man,  free  from 
care  and  always  the  leader,  has  nothing  to  fear  from  a  defeat. 
In  married  life  a  repulse  is  irreparable.  Though  a  lover  may 
make  a  mistress  change  her  mind  in  his  favor,  such  a  rout,  my 
dear  boy,  is  Waterloo  to  a  husband.  A  husband,  like  Na- 
poleon, is  bound  to  gain  the  victory ;  however  often  he  may 
have  won,  the  first  defeat  is  his  overthrow.  The  woman  who 
is  flattered  by  a  lover's  persistency,  and  proud  of  his  wrath, 
calls  them  brutal  in  a  husband.  The  lover  may  choose  his 
ground  and  do  what  he  will,  the  master  has  no  such  license, 
and  his  battlefield  is  always  the  same. 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  323 

"  Again,  the  struggle  is  the  other  way  about.  A  'wife  is 
naturally  inclined  to  refuse  what  she  ought ;  a  mistress  is  ready 
to  give  what  she  ought  not. 

"You  who  wish  to  marry  (and  who  will  do  it),  have  you 
ever  duly  meditated  on  the  Civil  Code  ?  I  have  never  soiled 
my  feet  in  that  cave  of  commentary,  that  cockloft  of  gabble 
called  the  Law  Schools;  I  never  looked  into  the  Code,  but  I 
see  how  it  works  in  the  living  organism  of  the  world.  I  am  a 
lawyer,  as  a  clinical  professor  is  a  doctor.  The  malady  is  not 
in  books,  it  is  in  the  patient.  The  Code,  my  friend,  provides 
women  with  guardians,  treats  them  as  minors,  as  children. 
And  how  do  we  manage  children  ?  By  fear.  In  that  word, 
my  dear  Paul,  you  have  the  bit  for  the  steed.  Feel  your  pulse, 
and  say  :  Can  you  disguise  yourself  as  a  tyrant ;  you  who  are 
so  gentle,  so  friendly,  so  trusting ;  you  whom  at  first  I  used 
to  laugh  at,  and  whom  I  now  love  well  enough  to  initiate  you 
into  my  science.  Yes,  this  is  part  of  a  science  to  which  the 
Germans  have  already  given  the  name  of  anthropology. 

"  Oh  !  if  I  had  not  solved  life  by  a  measure  of  pleasure,  if  I 
had  not  an  excessive  antipathy  for  men  who  think  instead  of 
acting,  if  I  did  not  despise  the  idiots  who  are  so  stupid  as  to 
believe  that  a  book  may  live,  when  the  sands  of  African  deserts 
are  composed  of  the  ashes  of  I  know  not  how  many  unknown 
Londons,  Venices,  Parises,  and  Romes  now  in  dust,  I  would 
write  a  book  on  modern  marriages  and  the  influence  of  the 
Christian  system  ;  I  would  erect  a  beacon  on  the  heap  of  sharp 
stones  on  which  the  votaries  lie  who  devote  themselves  to  the 
social  multiplicamini.  And  yet — is  the  human  face  worth  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  of  my  time  ?  Is  not  the  sole  rational  use 
of  pen  and  ink  to  ensnare  hearts  by  the  writing  of  seductive 
love-letters  ! 

"  So  you  will  introduce  us  to  the  Comtesse  de  Manerville?  " 

"Perhaps,"  said  Paul. 

"  We  shall  still  be  friends,"  said  de  Marsay. 

"Sure?"  replied  Paul. 


324  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

"Be  quite  easy;  we  will  be  very  polite  to  you,  as  the 
Maison  Rouge  were  to  the  English  at  Fontenoy." 

Though  this  conversation  shook  him,  the  Comte  ae  Maner- 
ville  set  to  work  to  carry  out  his  plans,  and  returned  to  Bor- 
deaux for  the  winter  of  1821.  The  cost  at  which  he  restored 
and  furnished  his  house  did  credit  to  the  reputation  for 
elegance  that  had  preceded  him.  His  old  connections  secured 
him  an  introduction  to  the  Royalist  circle  of  Bordeaux,  to 
which,  indeed,  he  belonged,  alike  by  opinion,  name,  and  for- 
tune, and  he  soon  became  the  leader  of  its  fashion.  His 
knowledge  of  life,  good  manners,  and  Parisian  training  en- 
chanted the  Saint-Germain  suburb  of  Bordeaux.  An  old 
marquise  applied  to  him  an  expression  formerly  current  at 
Court  to  designate  the  flower  of  handsome  youth,  of  the 
dandies  of  a  past  day,  whose  speech  and  style  were  law ;  she 
called  him  la  flcur  dcs  pois — as  who  should  say  Sweet-pea. 
The  Liberal  faction  took  up  the  nickname,  which  they  used 
in  irony,  and  the  Royalists  as  a  compliment. 

Paul  de  Manerville  fulfilled  with  glory  the  requirements  of 
the  name.  He  was  in  the  position  of  many  a  second-rate 
actor;  as  soon  as  the  public  vouchsafes  some  approval,  they 
become  almost  good.  Paul,  quite  at  his  ease,  displayed  the 
qualities  of  his  defects.  His  banter  was  neither  harsh  nor 
bitter,  his  manners  were  not  haughty ;  in  his  conversation 
with  women,  he  expressed  the  respect  they  value  without  too 
much  deference  or  too  much  familiarity.  His  dandyism  was 
no  more  than  an  engaging  care  for  his  person ;  he  was  con- 
siderate of  rank ;  he  allowed  a  freedom  to  younger  men  which 
his  Paris  experience  kept  within  due  limits ;  though  a  master 
with  the  sword  and  pistol,  he  was  liked  for  his  feminine  gentle- 
ness. He  was  one  of  those  men  who  are  made  to  accept 
rather  than  give  happiness,  to  whom  woman  is  a  great  factor 
in  life,  who  need  understanding  and  encouraging,  and  to  whom 
a  wife's  love  should  play  the  part  of  Providence. 


A    MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  325 

Though  such  a  character  as  this  gives  rise  to  trouble  in 
domestic  life,  it  is  charming  and  attractive  in  society.  Paul 
was  a  success  in  the  narrow  provincial  circle,  where  his  char- 
acter, in  no  respect  strongly  marked,  was  better  appreciated 
than  in  Paris. 

The  decoration  of  his  town-house,  and  the  necessary  restora- 
tion of  the  Lanstrac  Castle,  which  he  fitted  up  with  English 
comfort  and  luxury,  absorbed  the  capital  his  agent  had  saved 
during  the  past  six  years.  Reduced,  therefore,  to  his  exact 
income  of  forty-odd  thousand  francs  in  stocks,  he  thought  it 
wise  to  arrange  his  housekeeping  so  as  to  spend  no  more  than 
this.  By  the  time  he  had  duly  displayed  his  carriages  and 
horses,  and  entertained  the  young  men  of  position  in  the 
town,  he  perceived  that  provincial  life  necessitated  marriage. 
Still  too  young  to  devote  himself  to  the  avaricious  cares  or 
speculative  improvements  in  which  provincial  folk  ultimately 
find  employment,  as  required  by  the  need  for  providing  for 
their  children,  he  ere  long  felt  the  want  of  the  various  amuse- 
ments which  become  the  vital  habit  of  a  Parisian. 

At  the  same  time,  it  was  not  a  name  to  be  perpetuated,  an 
heir  to  whom  to  transmit  his  possessions,  the  position  to  be 
gained  by  having  a  house  where  the  principal  families  of  the 
neighborhood  might  meet,  nor  weariness  of  illicit  connections, 
that  proved  to  be  the  determining  cause.  He  had  on  arriving 
fallen  in  love  with  the  queen  of  Bordeaux  society,  the  much- 
talked -of  Mademoiselle  Evangelista. 

Early  in  the  century  a  rich  Spaniard  named  Evangelista  had 
settled  at  Bordeaux,  where  good  introductions,  added  to  a  fine 
fortune,  had  won  him  a  footing  in  the  drawing-rooms  of  the 
nobility.  His  wife  had  done  much  to  preserve  him  in  good 
odor  amid  this  aristocracy,  which  would  not,  perhaps,  have 
been  so  ready  to  receive  him  but  that  it  could  thus  annoy  the 
society  next  below  it.  Madame  Evangelista,  descended  from 
the  illustrious  house  of  Casa-Real,  connected  with  the  Spanish 
monarchs,  was  a  Creole,  and,  like  all  women  accustomed  to 


326  A  MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

be  served  by  slaves,  she  was  a  very  fine  lady,  knew  nothing  of 
the  value  of  money,  and  indulged  even  her  most  extravagant 
fancies,  finding  them  always  supplied  by  a  husband  who  was 
in  love  with  her,  and  who  was  so  generous  as  to  conceal  from 
her  all  the  machinery  of  money-making.  The  Spaniard,  de- 
lighted to  find  that  she  could  be  happy  at  Bordeaux,  where 
his  business  required  him  to  reside,  bought  a  fine  house,  kept 
it  in  good  style,  entertained  splendidly,  and  showed  excellent 
taste  in  every  respect.  So,  from  1800  till  1812,  no  one  was 
talked  of  in  Bordeaux  but  Monsieur  and  Madame  Evangelista. 

The  Spaniard  died  in  1813,  leaving  a  widow  of  two-and- 
thirty  with  an  enormous  fortune  and  the  prettiest  little 
daughter  in  the  world,  at  that  time  eleven  years  old,  prom- 
ising to  become,  as  indeed  she  became,  a  very  accomplished 
person.  Clever  as  Madame  Evangelista  might  be,  the  Restor- 
ation altered  her  position  ;  the  Royalist  party  sifted  itself, 
and  several  families  left  Bordeaux.  Still,  though  her  hus- 
band's head  and  hand  were  lacking  to  the  management  of  the 
business,  for  which  she  showed  the  inaptitude  of  a  woman  of 
fashion  and  the  indifference  of  the  creole,  she  made  no  change 
in  her  mode  of  living. 

By  the  time  when  Paul  de  Manerville  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  return  to  his  native  place,  Mademoiselle  Natalie 
Evangelista  was  a  remarkably  beautiful  girl,  and  apparently 
the  richest  match  in  Bordeaux,  where  no  one  knew  of  the 
gradual  diminution  of  her  mother's  wealth ;  for,  to  prolong 
her  reign,  Madame  Evangelista  had  spent  vast  sums  of  money. 
Splendid  entertainments  and  almost  royal  display  had  kept 
up  the  public  belief  in  the  wealth  of  the  house. 

Natalie  was  nearly  nineteen,  no  offer  of  marriage  had  as 
yet  come  to  her  mother's  ear.  Accustomed  to  indulge  all  her 
girlish  fancies,  Mademoiselle  Evangelista  had  Indian  shawls 
and  jewels,  and  lived  amid  such  luxury  as  frightened  the 
speculative,  in  a  land  and  at  a  time  when  the  young  are  as 
calculating  as  their  parents.  The  fatal  verdict:  "Only  a 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  327 

prince  could  afford  to  marry  Mademoiselle  Evangelista,"  was 
a  watchword  in  every  drawing-room  and  boudoir.  Mothers 
of  families,  dowagers  with  granddaughters  to  marry,  and  dam- 
sels jealous  of  the  fair  Natalie,  whose  unfailing  elegance  and 
tyrannous  beauty  were  an  annoyance  to  them,  took  care  to 
add  venom  to  this  opinion  by  perfidious  insinuations.  When 
an  eligible  youth  was  heard  to  exclaim  with  rapturous  admira- 
tion on  Natalie's  arrival  at  a  ball — "Good  heavens,  what  a 
beautiful  creature!"  "Yes,"  the  mammas  would  reply, 
"but  very  expensive  !  "  If  some  new-comer  spoke  of  Made- 
moiselle Evangelista  as  charming,  and  opined  that  a  man 
wanting  a  wife  could  not  make  a  better  choice — "  Who  would 
be  bold  enough,"  some  one  would  ask,  "to  marry  a  girl  to 
whom  her  mother  allows  a  thousand  francs  a  month  for  dress, 
who  keeps  horses  and  a  lady's-maid,  and  wears  lace  ?  She 
has  Mechlin  lace  on  her  dressing-gowns.  What  she  pays  for 
washing  would  keep  a  clerk  in  comfort.  She  has  morning 
capes  that  cost  six  francs  apiece  to  clean  !  " 

Such  speeches  as  these,  constantly  repeated  by  way  of  eulo- 
gium,  extinguished  the  keenest  desire  a  youth  might  feel  to 
wed  Mademoiselle  Evangelista.  The  queen  of  every  ball, 
surfeited  with  flattery,  sure  of  smiles  and  admiration  wherever 
she  went,  Natalie  knew  nothing  of  life.  She  lived  as  birds 
fly,  as  flowers  bloom,  finding  every  one  about  her  ready  to 
fulfill  her  least  wish.  She  knew  nothing  of  the  price  of  things, 
nor  of  how  money  is  acquired  or  kept.  She  very  likely  sup- 
posed that  every  house  was  furnished  with  cooks  and  coach- 
men, maids  and  menservants,  just  as  a  field  produces  fodder 
and  trees  yield  fruit.  To  her  the  beggar,  the  pauper,  the 
fallen  tree,  and  the  barren  field  were  all  the  same  thing. 
Cherished  like  a  hope  by  her  mother,  fatigue  never  marred 
her  pleasure ;  she  pranced  through  the  world  like  a  courser  on 
the  steppes,  a  courser  without  either  bridle  or  shoes. 

Six  months  after  Paul's  arrival  the  upper  circles  of  the  town 
had  brought  about  a  meeting  between  "Sweet-pea"  and  the 


328  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

queen  of  the  ballroom.  The  two  flowers  looked  at  each  other 
with  apparent  coldness,  and  thought  each  other  charming. 
Madame  Evangelista,  as  being  interested  in  this  not  unforeseen 
meeting,  read  Paul's  sentiments  in  his  eyes,  and  said  to  herself: 
"He  will  be  my  son-in-law  ;  "  while  Paul  said  to  himself,  as 
he  looked  at  Natalie :  "  She  will  be  my  wife  !  "  The  wealth  of 
the  Evangelistas,  proverbial  in  Bordeaux,  remained  in  Paul's 
memory  as  a  tradition  of  his  boyhood,  the  most  indelible  of 
all  such  impressions.  And  so  pecuniary  suitability  was  a  fore- 
gone conclusion,  without  all  the  discussion  and  inquiry,  which 
are  as  horrible  to  shy  as  to  proud  natures. 

When  some  persons  tried  to  express  to  Paul  the  praise  which 
it  was  impossible  to  refuse  to  Natalie's  manner  and  beauty  and 
wit,  always  ending  with  some  of  the  bitterly  mercenary  reflec- 
tions as  to  the  future  to  which  the  expensive  style  of  the  house- 
hold naturally  gave  rise,  Pease-blossom  replied  with  the  disdain 
that  such  provincialism  deserves.  And  this  way  of  treating 
the  matter,  which  soon  became  known,  silenced  these  re- 
marks ;  for  it  was  Paul  who  set  the  ton  in  ideas  and  speech 
as  much  as  in  manners  and  appearance.  He  had  imported  the 
French  development  of  the  British  stamp  and  its  ice-bound 
barriers,  its  Byronic  irony,  discontent  with  life,  contempt  for 
sacred  bonds,  English  plate  and  English  wit,  the  scorn  of  old 
provincial  customs  and  old  property;  cigars,  patent  leather, 
the  pony,  lemon-covered  gloves,  and  the  trot.  So  that  befell 
Paul  which  had  happened  to  no  one  before — no  old  dowager 
or  young  maid  tried  to  discourage  him. 

Madame  Evangelista  began  by  inviting  him  to  several  grand 
dinners.  Could  Sweet-pea  remain  absent  from  the  entertain- 
ments to  which  the  most  fashionable  young  men  of  the  town 
were  bidden?  In  spite  of  Paul's  affected  coldness,  which  did 
not  deceive  either  the  mother  or  the  daughter,  he  found  him- 
self taking  the  first  steps  on  the  road  to  marriage.  When 
Manerville  passed  in  his  tilbury  or  riding  a  good  horse,  other 
young  men  would  stop  to  watch  him,  and  he  could  hear  their 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  329 

comments:  "There's  a  lucky  fellow;  he  is  rich,  he  is  hand- 
some, and  they  say  he  is  to  marry  Mademoiselle  Evangelista. 
There  are  some  people  for  whom  the  world  seems  to  have  been 
made  !  "  If  he  happened  to  meet  Madame  Evangelista's  car- 
riage, he  was  proud  of  the  peculiar  graciousness  with  which  the 
mother  and  daughter  bowed  to  him. 

Even  if  Paul  had  not  been  in  love  with  Mademoiselle 
Natalie,  the  world  would  have  married  them  whether  or  not. 
The  world,  which  is  the  cause  of  no  good  thing,  is  implicated 
in  many  disasters;  then,  when  it  sees  the  evil  hatching  out 
that  it  has  so  maternally  brooded,  it  denies  it  and  avenges  it. 
The  upper  society  of  Bordeaux,  supposing  Mademoiselle  Evan- 
gelista to  have  a  fortune  of  a  million  francs,  handed  her  over 
to  Paul  without  awaiting  the  consent  of  the  parties  concerned 
— as  it  often  does. 

So  the  affair  was  settled ;  the  magnates  of  the  tiptop 
Royalist  circle,  when  the  marriage  was  mentioned  in  their 
presence,  made  such  civil  speeches  to  Paul  as  flattered  his 
vanity: 

"  Every  one  says  you  are  to  marry  Mademoiselle  Evangelista. 
You  will  do  well  to  marry  her;  you  will  not  find  so  handsome 
a  wife  anywhere,  not  even  in  Paris ;  she  is  elegant,  pleasing, 
and  allied  through  her  mother  with  the  Casa-Reals.  You  will 
be  the  most  charming  couple ;  you  have  the  same  tastes,  the 
same  views  of  life,  and  will  keep  the  most  agreeable  house  in 
Bordeaux.  Your  wife  will  only  have  to  pack  up  her  clothes 
and  move  in.  In  a  case  like  yours  a  house  ready  to  live  in  is 
as  good  as  a  settlement.  And  you  are  lucky  to  meet  with  a 
mother-in-law  like  Madame  Evangelista.  She  is  a  clever 
woman,  very  attractive,  and  will  be  an  important  aid  to  you 
in  the  political  career  to  which  you  ought  now  to  aspire.  She 
has  sacrificed  everything  for  her  daughter,  whom  she  worships ; 
and  Natalie  will  no  doubt  be  a  good  wife,  for  she  is  loving  to 
her  mother.  And  then,  everything  must  have  an  end." 

"That   is  all  very  fine,"  was  Paul's  reply;  for,   in  love 


330  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

though  he  was,  he  wished  to  be  free  to  choose,  "but  it  must 
have  a  happy  end." 

Paul  soon  became  a  frequent  visitor  to  Madame  Evangelista, 
led  there  by  the  need  to  find  employment  for  his  idle  hours, 
which  he,  more  than  other  men,  found  it  difficult  to  fill. 
There  only  in  the  town  did  he  find  the  magnificence  and 
luxury  to  which  he  had  accustomed  himself. 

Madame  Evangelista,  at  the  age  of  forty,  was  handsome 
still,  with  the  beauty  of  a  grand  sunset,  which  in  summer 
crowns  the  close  of  a  cloudless  day.  Her  blameless  reputation 
was  an  endless  subject  of  discussion  in  the  "sets"  of  Bor- 
deaux society,  and  the  curiosity  of  women  was  all  the  more 
alert,  because  the  widow's  appearance  suggested  the  sort  of 
temperament  which  makes  Spanish  and  Creole  women  notori- 
ous. She  had  black  eyes  and  hair,  the  foot  and  figure  of  a 
Spaniard — the  slender  serpentine  figure  for  which  the  Spaniards 
have  a  name.  Her  face,  still  beautiful,  had  the  fascinating 
Creole  complexion,  which  can  only  be  described  by  compar- 
ing it  with  white  lawn  over  warm  blood-color,  so  equably 
tinted  is  its  fairness.  Her  forms  were  round,  and  attractive 
in  the  grace  which  combines  the  ease  of  indolence  with 
vivacity,  strength  with  extreme  freedom.  She  was  attractive, 
but  imposing ;  she  fascinated,  but  made  no  promises.  Being 
tall,  she  could  at  will  assume  the  port  and  dignity  of  a  queen. 

Men  were  ensnared  by  her  conversation,  as  birds  are  by 
bird-lime,  for  she  had  by  nature  the  spirit  which  necessity 
bestows  on  intriguers ;  she  would  go  on  from  concession  to 
concession,  arming  herself  with  what  she  gained  to  ask  for 
something  more,  but  always  able  to  withdraw  a  thousand  yards 
at  a  bound  if  she  were  asked  for  anything  in  return.  She 
was  ignorant  of  facts,  but  she  had  known  the  Courts  of  Spain 
and  of  Naples,  the  most  famous  persons  of  the  two  Americas, 
and  various  illustrious  families  of  England  and  of  the  Con- 
tinent, which  gave  her  an  amount  of  information  superficially 
so  wide  that  it  seemed  immense. 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  331 

The  mother  and  daughter  were  truly  friends,  apart  from 
filial  and  maternal  feeling.  They  suited  each  other,  and  their 
perpetual  contact  had  never  resulted  in  a  jar.  Thus  many 
persons  accounted  for  Madame  Evangelista's  self-sacrifice  by 
her  love  for  her  daughter.  However,  though  Natalie  may 
have  consoled  her  mother  for  her  unalleviated  widowhood,  she 
was  not  perhaps  its  only  motive.  Madame  Evangelista  was 
said  to  have  fallen  in  love  with  a  man  whom  the  second  Res- 
toration had  reinstated  in  his  title  and  peerage.  This  man, 
who  would  willingly  have  married  her  in  1814,  had  very 
decently  thrown  her  over  in  1816. 

Now  Madame  Evangelista,  apparently  the  best-hearted  crea- 
ture living,  had  in  her  nature  one  terrible  quality  which  can 
be  best  expressed  in  Catherine  de'  Medici's  motto,  Odiate  e 
aspettatc — Hate  and  wait.  Used  always  to  be  first,  always  to 
be  obeyed,  she  resembled  royal  personages  in  being  amiable, 
gentle,  perfectly  sweet  and  easy-going  in  daily  life ;  but  ter- 
rible, implacable,  when  offended  in  her  pride  as  a  woman,  a 
Spaniard,  and  a  Casa-Real.  She  never  forgave.  This  woman 
believed  in  the  power  of  her  own  hatred ;  she  regarded  it  as 
an  evil  spell  which  hung  over  her  enemies.  This  fateful  in- 
fluence she  had  cast  over  the  man  who  had  been  false  to  her. 
Events  which  seemed  to  prove  the  efficacy  of  her  jettatura 
confirmed  her  in  her  superstitious  belief  in  it.  Though  he 
was  a  minister  and  a  member  of  the  Upper  Chamber,  ruin 
stole  upon  him,  and  he  was  utterly  undone.  His  estate,  his 
political  and  personal  position — -all  was  lost.  One  day  Ma- 
dame Evangelista  was  able  to  drive  past  him  in  her  handsome 
carriage  while  he  stood  in  the  Champs  Elysees,  and  to  blight 
him  with  a  look  sparkling  with  the  fires  of  triumph. 

Madame  Evangelista  quickly  read  Paul's  character  and  con- 
cealed her  own.  He  was  the  very  man  she  hoped  for  as  a  son- 
in-law,  as  the  responsible  editor  of  her  influence  and  authority. 
He  was  related  through  his  mother  to  the  Maulincours ;  and 
the  old  Baronne  de  Maulincour,  the  friend  of  the  Vidame  de 


332  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

Pamiers,  lived  in  the  heart  of  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain. 
The  grandson  of  the  baronne,  Auguste  de  Maulincour,  had  a 
brilliant  position  in  society.  Thus  Paul  would  advantageously 
introduce  the  Evangelistas  to  the  World  of  Paris.  The  widow 
had  at  rare  intervals  visited  Paris  under  the  Empire;  she 
longed  to  shine  in  Paris  under  the  Restoration.  There  only 
were  the  elements  to  be  found  of  political  success,  the  only 
form  of  fortune-making  in  which  a  woman  of  fashion  can 
allow  herself  to  cooperate. 

Madame  Evangelista,  obliged  by  her  husband's  business  to 
live  in  Bordeaux,  had  never  liked  it ;  she  had  a  house  there, 
and  every  one  knows  how  many  obligations  fetter  a  woman's 
life  under  such  circumstances ;  but  she  was  tired  of  Bordeaux, 
she  had  exhausted  its  resources.  She  wished  for  a  wider  stage, 
as  gamblers  go  where  the  play  is  highest.  So,  for  her  own 
benefit,  she  dreamed  of  high  destinies  for  Paul.  She  intended 
to  use  her  own  cleverness  and  knowledge  of  life  for  her  son- 
in-law's  advancement,  so  as  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  power 
in  his  name.  Many  men  are  thus  the  screen  of  covert  femi- 
nine ambitions.  And,  indeed,  Madame  Evangelista  had  more 
than  one  motive  for  wishing  to  govern  her  daughter's  hus- 
band. 

Paul  was,  of  course,  captivated  by  the  lady,  all  the  more 
certainly  because  she  seemed  not  to  wish  to  influence  him  in 
any  way.  She  used  her  ascendency  to  magnify  herself,  to 
magnify  her  daughter,  and  to  give  enhanced  value  to  every- 
thing about  her,  so  as  to  have  the  upper  hand  from  the  first 
with  the  man  in  whom  she  saw  the  means  of  continuing  her 
aristocratic  connection. 

And  Paul  valued  himself  the  more  highly  for  this  apprecia- 
tion of  the  mother  and  daughter.  He  fancied  himself  wittier 
than  he  was,  when  he  found  that  his  remarks  and  his  slightest 
jests  were  responded  to  by  Mademoiselle  Evangelista,  who 
smiled  or  looked  up  intelligently,  and  by  her  mother,  whose 
flattery  always  seemed  to  be  involuntary.  The  two  women 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  333 

were  so  frankly  kind,  he  felt  so  sure  of  pleasing  them,  they 
drove  him  so  cleverly  by  the  guiding  thread  of  his  conceit, 
that,  before  long,  he  spent  most  of  his  time  at  their  house. 

Within  a  year  of  his  arrival  Count  Paul,  without  having 
declared  his  intentions,  was  so  attentive  to  Natalie  that  he 
was  universally  understood  to  be  courting  her.  Neither  mother 
nor  daughter  seemed  to  think  of  marriage.  Mademoiselle 
Evangelista  did  not  depart  from  the  reserve  of  a  fine  lady  who 
knows  how  to  be  charming  and  converse  agreeably  without 
allowing  the  slightest  advance  toward  intimacy.  This  self- 
respect,  rare  among  provincial  folk,  attracted  Paul  greatly. 
Shy  men  are  often  touchy,  unexpected  suggestions  alarm  them. 
They  flee  even  from  happiness  if  it  comes  with  much  display, 
and  are  ready  to  accept  unhappiness  if  it  comes  in  a  modest 
form,  surrounded  by  gentle  shades.  Hence  Paul,  seeing  that 
Madame  Evangelista  made  no  effort  to  entrap  him,  ensnared 
himself.  The  Spanish  lady  captivated  him  finally  one  even- 
ing by  saying  that  at  a  certain  age  a  superior  woman,  like  a 
man,  found  that  ambition  took  the  place  of  the  feelings  of 
earlier  years. 

"That  woman,"  thought  Paul,  as  he  went  away,  "would 
be  capable  of  getting  me  some  good  embassy  before  I  could 
even  be  elected  deputy." 

The  man  who,  under  any  circumstances,  fails  to  look  at 
everything  or  at  every  idea  from  all  sides,  to  examine  them 
under  all  aspects,  is  inefficient  and  weak,  and  consequently  in 
danger.  Paul  at  this  moment  was  an  optimist ;  he  saw  ad- 
vantages in  every  contingency,  and  never  remembered  that 
an  ambitious  mother-in-law  may  become  a  tyrant.  So  every 
evening  as  he  went  home  he  pictured  himself  as  married,  he 
bewitched  himself,  and  unconsciously  shod  himself  with  the 
slippers  of  matrimony.  He  had  enjoyed  his  liberty  too  long 
to  regret  it ;  he  was  tired  of  single  life,  which  could  show  him 
nothing  new,  and  of  which  he  now  saw  only  the  discomforts  ; 
whereas,  though  the  difficulties  of  marriage  sometimes  occurred 


334  A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

to  him,  he  far  more  often  contemplated  its  pleasures;   the 
prospect  was  new  to  him. 

"  Married  life,"  said  he  to  himself,  "  is  hard  only  on  the 
poorer  classes.  Half  its  troubles  vanish  before  wealth." 

So  every  day  some  hopeful  suggestion  added  to  the  list  of 
advantages  which  he  saw  in  this  union. 

"  However  high  I  may  rise  in  life,  Natalie  will  always  be 
equal  to  her  position,"  he  would  say  to  himself,  "  and  that  is 
no  small  merit  in  a  wife.  How  many  men  of  the  Empire 
have  I  seen  suffering  torment  from  their  wives  !  Is  it  not  an 
important  element  of  happiness  never  to  feel  one's  pride  or 
vanity  rubbed  the  wrong  way  by  the  companion  one  has 
chosen  ?  A  man  can  never  be  utterly  wretched  with  a  well- 
bred  woman ;  she  never  makes  him  contemptible,  and  she 
may  be  of  use.  Natalie  will  be  a  perfect  mistress  of  a  drawing- 
room." 

He  even  endeavored  to  study  Mademoiselle  Evangelista  in 
a  way  that  would  not  compromise  his  ultimate  decision  in  his 
own  eyes,  for  his  friend  de  Marsay's  terrible  speech  rang  in 
his  ears  now  and  again.  But,  in  the  first  place,  those  who 
are  accustomed  to  luxury  have  a  tone  of  simplicity  that  is  very 
deceptive.  They  scorn  it,  they  use  it  habitually,  it  is  the 
means  and  not  the  object  of  their  lives.  Paul,  as  he  saw  that 
these  ladies'  lives  were  so  similar  to  his  own,  never  for  an 
instant  imagined  that  they  concealed  any  conceivable  source 
of  ruin.  And  then,  though  there  are  a  few  general  rules  for 
mitigating  the  worries  of  married  life,  there  are  none  to  enable 
us  to  guess  or  foresee  them. 

When  troubles  arise  between  two  beings  who  have  under- 
taken to  make  life  happy  and  easy  each  for  the  other,  they  are 
based  on  the  friction  produced  by  an  incessant  intimacy  which 
does  not  arise  between  two  persons  before  marriage,  and  never 
can  arise  till  the  laws  and  habits  of  French  life  are  changed. 
Two  beings  on  the  eve  of  joining  their  lives  always  deceive 
each  other;  but  the  deception  is  innocent  and  involuntary. 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  335 

Each,  of  course,  stands  in  the  best  light ;  they  are  rivals  as  to 
which  makes  the  most  promising  show,  and  at  that  time  form 
a  favorable  idea  of  themselves  up  to  which  they  cannot  after- 
ward come.  Real  life,  like  a  changeable  day,  consists  more 
often  of  the  gray,  dull  hours  when  Nature  is  overcast  than  of 
the  brilliant  intervals  when  the  sun  gives  glory  and  joy  to  the 
fields.  Young  people  look  only  at  the  fine  days.  Subse- 
quently they  ascribe  the  inevitable  troubles  of  life  to  matri- 
mony, for  there  is  in  man  a  tendency  to  seek  the  cause  of  his 
griefs  in  things  or  persons  immediately  at  hand. 

To  discover  in  Mademoiselle  Evangelista's  demeanor  or 
countenance,  in  her  words  or  her  gestures,  any  indication  that 
might  reveal  the  quota  of  imperfection  inherent  in  her  charac- 
ter, Paul  would  have  needed  not  merely  the  science  of  Lavater 
and  of  Gall,  but  another  kind  of  knowledge  for  which  no 
code  of  formulas  exists,  the  personal  intuition  of  the  observer, 
which  requires  almost  universal  knowledge.  Like  all  girls, 
Natalie's  countenance  was  impenetrable.  The  deep,  serene 
peace  given  by  sculptors  to  the  virgin  heads  intended  to  per- 
sonify Justice,  Innocence,  all  the  divinities  who  dwell  above 
earthly  agitations — this  perfect  calm  is  the  greatest  charm  ot 
a  girlish  face,  it  is  the  sign-manual  of  her  purity ;  nothing  has 
stirred  her,  no  repressed  passion,  no  betrayed  affection  has 
cast  a  shade  on  the  placidity  of  her  features ;  and  if  it  is 
assumed,  the  girl  has  ceased  to  exist.  Living  always  insep- 
arable from  her  mother,  Natalie,  like  every  Spanish  woman, 
had  had  none  but  religious  teaching,  and  some  few  lessons  of 
a  mother  to  her  daughter  which  might  be  useful  for  her  part 
in  life.  Hence  her  calm  expression  was  natural ;  but  it  was  a 
veil,  in  which  the  woman  was  shrouded  as  a  butterfly  is  in  the 
chrysalis. 

At  the  same  time,  a  man  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  scalpel  of 
analysis  might  have  discerned  in  Natalie  some  revelation  of 
the  difficulties  her  character  might  present  in  the  conflict  of 
married  or  social  life.  Her  really  wonderful  beauty  was 


336  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

marked  by  excessive  regularity  of  features,  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  proportions  of  her  head  and  figure.  Such  perfection 
does  not  promise  well  for  the  intellect,  and  there  are  few  ex- 
ceptions to  this  rule.  Superior  qualities  show  in  some  slight 
imperfections  of  form  which  become  exquisitely  attractive, 
points  of  light  where  antagonistic  feelings  sparkle  and  rivet 
the  eye.  Perfect  harmony  indicates  the  coldness  of  a  com- 
pound nature. 

Natalie  had  a  round  figure,  a  sign  of  strength,  but  also  an 
infallible  evidence  of  self-will  often  reaching  the  pitch  of  ob- 
stinacy in  women  whose  mind  is  neither  keen  nor  broad.  Her 
hands,  like  those  of  a  Greek  statue,  confirmed  the  forecast 
of  her  face  and  form  by  showing  a  love  of  unreasoning  do- 
minion. Will  for  will's  sake.  Her  eyebrows  met  in  the  mid- 
dle, which,  according  to  observers,  indicates  a  jealous  dispo- 
sition. The  jealousy  of  noble  souls  becomes  emulation  and 
leads  to  great  things  ;  that  of  mean  minds  turns  to  hatred. 
Her  mother's  motto,  Odiate  e  aspctiate,  was  hers  in  all  its 
strength.  Her  eyes  looked  black,  but  were  in  fact  dark  hazel- 
brown,  and  contrasted  with  her  hair  of  that  russet  hue,  so 
highly  prized  by  the  Romans,  and  known  in  English  as  au- 
burn, the  usual  color  of  the  hair  in  the  children  of  two  black- 
haired  parents  like  Monsieur  and  Madame  Evangelista.  Her 
delicately  white  skin  added  infinitely  to  the  charm  of  this 
contrast  of  colors  in  hair  and  eyes,  but  this  refinement  was 
purely  superficial ;  for  whenever  the  lines  of  a  face  have  not  a 
peculiar  soft  roundness,  whatever  the  refinement  and  delicacy 
of  the  details,  do  not  look  for  any  especial  charms  of  mind. 
These  flowers  of  delusive  youth  presently  fade,  and  you  are 
surprised  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  years  to  detect  hardness, 
sternness,  where  you  once  admired  the  elegance  of  lofty  qual- 
ities. 

There  was  something  august  in  Natalie's  features ;  still,  her 
chin  was  rather  heavy — a  painter  would  have  said  thick  in 
impasto,  an  expression  descriptive  of  a  type  that  shows  pre- 


A    MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  337 

existing  sentiments  of  which  the  violence  does  not  declare 
itself  till  middle  life.  Her  mouth,  a  little  sunk  in  her  face, 
showed  the  arrogance  no  less  expressed  in  her  hand,  her  chin, 
her  eyebrows,  and  her  stately  shape.  Finally,  a  last  sign 
which  alone  might  have  warned  the  judgment  of  a  connoisseur, 
Natalie's  pure  and  fascinating  voice  had  a  metallic  ring. 
However  gently  the  brazen  instrument  was  handled,  however 
tenderly  the  vibrations  were  sent  through  the  curves  of  the 
horn,  that  voice  proclaimed  a  nature  like  that  of  the  Duke  of 
Alva,  from  whom  the  Casa-Reals  were  collaterally  descended. 
All  these  indications  pointed  to  passions,  violent  but  not 
tender,  to  sudden  infatuations,  irreconcilable  hatred,  a  certain 
wit  without  intellect,  and  the  craving  to  rule,  inherent  in 
persons  who  feel  themselves  below  the  pretensions. 

These  faults,  the  outcome  of  race  and  constitution,  some- 
times compensated  for  by  the  impulsions  of  generous  blood, 
were  hidden  in  Natalie  as  ore  is  hidden  in  the  mine,  and 
would  only  be  brought  to  the  surface  by  the  rough  treatment 
and  shocks  to  which  character  is  subjected  in  the  world.  At 
present  the  sweetness  and  freshness  of  youth,  the  elegance  of 
her  manners,  her  saintly  ignorance,  and  the  grace  of  girl- 
hood, tinged  her  features  with  the  delicate  veneer  that  ever 
deceives  superficial  observers. 

How  should  Paul,  who  loved  as  a  man  does  when  love  is 
seconded  by  desire,  foresee  in  a  girl  of  this  temper,  whose 
beauty  dazzled  him,  the  woman  as  she  would  be  at  thirty,  when 
shrewder  observers  might  have  been  deceived  by  appearances? 
If  happiness  were  difficult  to  find  in  married  life,  with  this 
girl  it  would  not  be  impossible.  Some  fine  qualities  shone 
through  her  defects.  In  the  hand  of  a  skillful  master  any 
good  quality  may  be  made  to  stifle  faults,  especially  in  a  girl 
who  can  love. 

But  to  make  so  stern  a  metal  ductile,  the  iron  fist  of  which 
de  Marsay  had  spoken  was  needed.  The  Paris  dandy  was 
right.  Fear,  inspired  by  love,  is  an  infallible  tool  for  dealing 
22 


333  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

with  a  woman's  spirit.  Those  who  fear,  love  ;  and  fear  is  more 
nearly  akin  to  love  than  to  hatred.  Would  Paul  have  the 
coolness,  the  judgment,  the  firmness  needed  in  the  contest  of 
which  no  wife  should  be  allowed  to  have  a  suspicion  ?  And, 
again,  did  Natalie  love  Paul? 

Natalie,  like  most  girls,  mistook  for  love  the  first  impulses 
of  instinct  and  liking  that  Paul's  appearance  stirred  in  her, 
knowing  nothing  of  the  meaning  of  marriage  or  of  house- 
wifery. To  her  the  Comte  de  Manerville,  who  had  seen 
diplomatic  service  at  every  court  in  Europe,  one  of  the  most 
fashionable  men  of  Paris,  could  not  be  an  ordinary  man  de- 
void of  moral  strength,  with  a  mixture  of  bravery  and  shyness, 
energetic  perhaps  in  adversity,  but  defenseless  against  the  foes 
that  poison  happiness.  Would  she  develop  tact  enough  to 
discern  Paul's  good  qualities  among  his  superficial  defects? 
Would  she  not  magnify  these  and  forget  those,  after  the 
manner  of  young  wives  who  know  nothing  of  life? 

At  a  certain  age  a  woman  will  overlook  vice  in  the  man 
who  spares  her  petty  annoyances,  while  she  regards  such  an- 
noyances as  misfortunes.  What  conciliatory  influence  and 
what  experience  would  cement  and  enlighten  this  young 
couple  ?  Would  not  Paul  and  his  wife  imagine  that  love  was 
all-in-all,  when  they  were  only  at  the  stage  of  affectionate 
grimacing  in  which  young  wives  indulge  at  the  beginning  of 
their  life,  and  of  the  compliments  a  husband  pays  on  their 
return  from  a  ball  while  he  still  has  the  courtesy  of  admi- 
ration ? 

In  such  a  situation  would  not  Paul  succumb  to  his  wife's 
tyranny  instead  of  asserting  his  authority  ?  Would  he  be 
able  to  say  "  No  ?  "  All  was  danger  for  a  weak  man  in  cir- 
cumstances where  a  strong  one  might  perhaps  have  run  some 
risk. 

The  subject  of  this  study  is  not  the  transition  of  an  unmar- 
ried to  a  married  man — a  picture  which,  broadly  treated, 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  33f 

would  not  lack  the  interest  which  the  innermost  storm  of  our 
feelings  must  lend  to  the  commonest  facts  of  life.  The  event? 
and  ideas  which  culminated  in  Paul's  marriage  to  Made- 
moiselle Evangelista  are  an  introduction  to  the  work,  and  only 
intended  as  a  study  to  the  great  comedy  which  is  the  prologue 
to  every  married  life.  Hitherto  this  passage  has  been  neg- 
lected by  dramatic  writers,  though  it  offers  fresh  resources 
to  their  wit. 

This  prologue,  which  decided  Paul's  future  life,  and  to 
which  Madame  Evangelista  looked  forward  with  terror,  was 
the  discussion  to  which  the  marriage-settlements  give  rise  in 
every  family,  whether  of  the  nobility  or  of  the  middle-class ; 
for  human  passions  are  quite  as  strongly  agitated  by  small 
interests  as  by  great  ones.  These  dramas,  played  out  in  the 
presence  of  the  notary,  are  all  more  or  less  like  this  one,  and 
its  real  interest  will  be  less  in  these  pages  than  in  the  memory 
of  most  married  people. 

Early  in  the  winter  of  1822  Paul  de  Manerville,  through 
the  intervention  of  his  grand-aunt,  Madame  la  Baronne  de 
Maulincour,  asked  the  hand  of  Mademoiselle  Evangelista. 
Though  the  baroness  usually  spent  no  more  than  two  months 
in  Medoc,  she  remained  on  this  occasion  till  the  end  of  Oc- 
tober to  be  of  use  to  her  grand-nephew  in  this  matter,  and 
play  the  part  of  a  mother.  After  laying  the  overtures  before 
Madame  Evangelista,  the  experienced  old  lady  came  to  report 
to  Paul  on  the  results  of  this  step. 

"My  boy,"  said  she,  "I  have  settled  the  matter.  In  dis- 
cussing money  matters  I  discovered  that  Madame  Evangelista 
gives  her  daughter  nothing.  Mademoiselle  Natalie  marries 
with  but  her  barest  rights.  Marry,  my  dear ;  men  who  have 
a  name  and  estates  to  transmit  must  sooner  or  later  end  by 
marriage.  I  should  like  to  see  my  dear  Auguste  do  the  same. 

"  You  can  get  married  without  me,  I  have  nothing  to  be- 
stow on  you  but  my  blessing,  and  old  women  of  my  age  have 
no  business  at  weddings.  I  shall  return  to  Paris  to-morrow. 


340  A   MAKRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

When  you  introduce  your  wife  to  society,  I  shall  see  her  much 
more  comfortably  than  I  can  here.  If  you  had  not  your  house 
in  Paris,  you  would  have  found  a  home  with  me.  I  should 
have  been  delighted  to  arrange  my  third-floor  rooms  to  suit 
you." 

"Dear  aunt,"  said  Paul,  "I  thank  you  very  warmly.  But 
what  do  you  mean  by  saying  her  mother  gives  her  nothing, 
and  that  she  marries  only  with  her  bare  rights?  " 

"  Her  mother,  my  dear  boy,  is  a  very  knowing  hand,  who  is 
taking  advantage  of  the  girl's  beauty  to  make  terms  and  give 
you  no  more  than  what  she  cannot  keep  back — the  father's 
fortune.  We  old  folk,  you  know,  think  a  deal  deal  of  '  How 
much  has  he  ?  How  much  has  she  ?  '  I  advise  you  to  give 
strict  instructions  to  your  notary.  The  marriage-contract, 
my  child,  is  a  sacred  duty.  If  your  father  and  mother  had 
not  made  their  bed  well,  you  might  now  be  without  sheets. 
You  will  have  children — they  are  the  usual  result  of  marriage 
— so  you  are  bound  to  think  of  this.  Call  in  Maitre  Mathias, 
our  old  notary." 

Madame  de  Maulincour  left  Paul  plunged  in  perplexity. 
His  mother-in-law  was  a  knowing  hand  !  He  must  discuss 
and  defend  his  interests  in  the  marriage-contract !  Who, 
then,  proposed  to  attack  them  ?  So  he  took  his  aunt's  advice 
and  intrusted  the  matter  of  settlements  to  Maitre  Mathias. 

Still,  he  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  anticipated  dis- 
cussion. And  it  was  not  without  much  trepidation  that  he 
went  to  see  Madame  Evangelista  with  a  view  to  announcing 
his  intentions.  Like  all  timid  people,  he  was  afraid  lest  he 
should  betray  the  distrust  suggested  by  his  aunt,  which  he 
thought  nothing  less  than  insulting.  To  avoid  the  slightest 
friction  with  so  imposing  a  personage  as  his  future  mother- 
in-law  seemed,  he  fell  back  on  the  circumlocutions  natural  to 
those  who  dare  not  face  a  difficulty. 

"Madame,  you  know  what  an  old  family  notary  is  like," 
said  he,  when  Natalie  was  absent  for  a  minute.  "Mine  is  a 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT  341 

worthy  old  man,  who  would  be  deeply  aggrieved  if  I  did  not 
place  my  marriage-contract  in  his  hands " 

"But,  my  dear  fellow,"  said  Madame  Evangelista,  inter- 
rupting him,  "are  not  marriage-contracts  always  settled 
through  the  notaries  on  each  side?" 

During  the  interval  while  Paul  sat  pondering,  not  daring  to 
open  the  matter,  Madame  Evangelista  had  been  wondering, 
"  What  is  he  thinking  about  ?  "  for  women  have  a  great  power 
of  reading  thought  from  the  play  of  feature.  And  she  could 
guess  at  the  great-aunt's  hints  from  the  embarrassed  gaze  and 
agitated  tone  which  betrayed  Paul's  mental  disturbance. 

"At  last,"  thought  she,  "the  decisive  moment  has  come; 
the  crisis  is  at  hand ;  what  will  be  the  end  of  it  ?  My  notary, ' ' 
she  went  on,  after  a  pause,  "  is  Maitre  Solonet,  and  yours  is 
Maitre  Mathias ;  I  will  ask  them  both  to  dinner  to-morrow, 
and  they  can  settle  the  matter  between  them.  Is  it  not  their 
business  to  conciliate  our  interests  without  our  meddling,  as 
it  is  that  of  the  cook  to  feed  us  well  ?  " 

"Why,  of  course,"  said  he,  with  a  little  sigh  of  relief. 

By  a  strange  inversion  of  parts,  Paul,  who  was  blameless, 
quaked,  while  Madame  Evangelista,  though  dreadfully  anxious, 
appeared  calm.  The  widow  owed  her  daughter  the  third 
of  the  fortune  left  by  Monsieur  Evangelista,  twelve  hundred 
thousand  francs,  and  was  quite  unable  to  pay  it,  even  if  she 
stripped  herself  of  all  her  possessions.  She  would  be  at  her 
son-in-law's  mercy.  Though  she  might  override  Paul  alone, 
would  Paul,  enlightened  by  his  lawyer,  agree  to  any  compro- 
mise as  to  the  account  of  her  stewardship  ?  If  he  withdrew, 
all  Bordeaux  would  know  the  reason,  and  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  Natalie  to  marry.  The  mother  who  wished  to  secure 
her  daughter's  happiness,  the  woman  who  from  the  hour  of 
her  birth  had  lived  in  honor,  foresaw  the  day  when  she  must 
be  dishonored. 

Like  those  great  generals  who  would  fain  wipe  out  of  their 
lives  the  moment  when  they  were  cowards  at  heart,  she  wished 


342  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

she  could  score  out  that  day  from  the  days  of  her  life.  And 
certainly  some  of  her  hairs  turned  white  in  the  course  of  the 
night  when,  face  to  face  with  this  difficulty,  she  bitterly 
blamed  herself  for  her  want  of  care. 

In  the  first  place,  she  was  obliged  to  confide  in  her  lawyer, 
whom  she  sent  for  to  attend  her  as  soon  as  she  was  up.  She 
had  to  confess  a  secret  vexation  which  she  had  never  admitted 
even  to  herself,  for  she  had  walked  on  to  the  verge  of  the 
precipice,  trusting  to  one  of  those  chances  that  never  happen. 
And  a  feeling  was  born  in  her  soul,  a  little  animus  against 
Paul  that  was  not  yet  hatred,  nor  aversion,  nor  in  any  way 
evil — but,  was  not  he  the  antagonistic  party  in  this  family 
suit  ?  Was  he  not,  unwittingly,  an  innocent  enemy  who 
must  be  defeated  ?  And  who  could  ever  love  any  one  he  had 
duped  ? 

Compelled  to  deceive,  the  Spanish  woman  resolved,  like 
any  woman,  to  show  her  superiority  in  a  contest  of  which  the 
entire  success  could  alone  wipe  out  the  discredit.  In  the 
silence  of  the  night  she  excused  herself  by  a  line  of  argument 
in  which  her  pride  had  the  upper  hand.  Had  not  Natalie 
benefited  by  her  lavishness?  Had  her  conduct  ever  been 
actuated  by  one  of  the  base  and  ignoble  motives  that  degrade 
the  soul?  She  could  not  keep  accounts — well,  was  that  a  sin, 
a  crime  ?  Was  not  a  man  only  too  lucky  to  win  such  a  wife 
as  Natalie  ?  Was  not  the  treasure  she  had  preserved  for  him 
worth  a  discharge  in  full  ?  Did  not  many  a  man  pay  for  the 
woman  he  loved  by  making  great  sacrifices?  And  why  should 
he  do  more  for  a  courtesan  than  for  a  wife  ?  Beside,  Paul  was 
a  commonplace,  incapable  being;  she  would  support  him  by 
the  resources  of  her  own  cleverness ;  she  would  help  him  to 
make  his  way  in  the  world  ;  he  would  owe  his  position  to  her; 
would  not  this  amply  pay  the  debt  ?  He  would  be  a  fool  to 
hesitate?  And  for  a  few  thousand  francs  more  or  less?  It 
would  be  disgraceful ! 

"If  I  am  not  at  once  successful,"  said  she  to  herself,  "I 


THE    YOUNG    MAN    ARRIVED    NEXT    MORNING. 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  343 

leave  Bordeaux.  I  can  still  secure  a  good  match  for  Natalie 
by  realizing  all  that  is  left — the  house,  my  diamonds,  and  the 
furniture,  giving  her  all  but  an  annuity  for  myself." 

When  a  strongly  tempered  spirit  plans  a  retreat,  as  Riche- 
lieu did  at  Brouage,  and  schemes  for  a  splendid  finale,  this 
alternative  becomes  a  fulcrum  which  helps  the  schemer  to 
triumph.  This  escape,  in  case  of  failure,  reassured  Madame 
Evangelista,  who  went  to  sleep,  indeed,  full  of  confidence  in 
her  second  in  this  duel.  She  trusted  greatly  to  the  aid  of  the 
cleverest  notary  in  Bordeaux,  Maitre  Solonet,  a  young  man  of 
seven-and-twenty,  a  member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  as  the 
reward  of  having  contributed  actively  to  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons.  Proud  and  delighted  to  be  admitted  to  an  ac- 
quaintance with  Madame  Evangelista,  less  as  a  lawyer  than  as 
belonging  to  the  Royalist  party  in  Bordeaux,  Solonet  cherished 
for  her  sunset  beauty  one  of  those  passions  which  such  women 
as  Madame  Evangelista  ignore  while  they  are  flattered  by  them, 
and  which  even  the  prudish  allow  to  float  in  their  wake.  Sol- 
onet lived  in  an  attitude  of  vanity  full  of  respect  and  seemly 
attentions.  This  young  man  arrived  next  morning  with  the 
zeal  of  a  slave,  and  was  admitted  to  the  widow's  bedroom, 
where  he  found  her  coquettishly  dressed  in  a  most  becoming 
wrapper. 

"  Now,"  said  she,  "  can  I  trust  to  your  reticence  and  entire 
devotion  in  the  discussion  which  is  to  take  place  this  evening  ? 
Of  course,  you  can  guess  that  my  daughter's  marriage-contract 
is  in  question." 

The  young  lawyer  was  profuse  in  protestations. 

"  For  the  facts,  then,"  said  she. 

"  I  am  all  attention,"  he  replied,  with  a  look  of  concentra- 
tion. 

Madame  Evangelista  stated  the  case  without  any  finesse. 

"My  dear  madame,  all  this  matters  not,"  said  Maitre  Sol- 
onet, assuming  an  important  air  when  his  client  had  laid  the 
exact  figures  before  him.  "How  have  you  dealt  with  Mon- 


344  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

sieur  de  Manerville  ?     The  moral  attitude  is  of  greater  conse- 
quence than  any  questions  of  law  or  finance." 

Madame  Evangelista  robed  herself  in  dignity;  the  young 
notary  was  delighted  to  learn  that  to  this  day  his  client,  in 
her  treatment  of  Paul,  had  preserved  the  strictest  distance  ; 
half  out  of  real  pride  and  half  out  of  unconscious  self-interest, 
she  had  always  behaved  to  the  Comte  de  Manerville  as  though 
he  were  her  inferior,  and  it  would  be  an  honor  for  him  to 
marry  Mademoiselle  Evangelista.  Neither  she  nor  her  daughter 
could  be  suspected  of  interested  motives  ;  their  feelings  were 
evidently  free  from  meanness ;  if  Paul  should  raise  the  least 
difficulty  on  the  money  question,  they  had  every  right  to 
withdraw  to  an  immeasurable  distance — in  fact,  she  had  a 
complete  ascendency  over  her  would-be  son-in-law. 

"This  being  the  case,"  said  Solonet,  "what  is  the  utmost 
concession  you  are  inclined  to  make?" 

"The  least  possible,"  said  she,  laughing. 

"A  woman's  answer!"  replied  Solonet.  "Madame,  do 
you  really  wish  to  see  Mademoiselle  Natalie  married  ?" 

"Yes." 

"And  you  want  a  discharge  for  the  eleven  hundred  and 
fifty-six  thousand  francs  you  will  owe  her  in  accordance  with 
the  account  rendered  of  your  guardianship  ?  " 

"Exactly!" 

"  How  much  do  you  wish  to  reserve?  " 

"  At  least  thirty  thousand  francs  a  year." 

"So  we  must  conquer  or  perish  ?  " 

"Yes." 

*'  Well,  I  will  consider  the  ways  and  means  of  achieving 
that  end,  for  we  must  be  very  dexterous  and  husband  our 
resources.  I  will  give  you  a  few  hints  on  arriving ;  act  on 
them  exactly,  and  I  can  confidently  predict  complete  success. 
Is  Count  Paul  in  love  with  Mademoiselle  Natalie?"  he  asked 
as  he  rose. 
-  f*  He  worships  her," 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  345 

"That  is  not  enough.  Is.  he  so  anxious  to  have  her  as 
his  wife  that  he  will  pass  over  any  little  pecuniary  difficul- 
ties?" 

"Yes." 

"  That  is  what  I  call  having  personal  property  in  a  daugh- 
ter!  "  exclaimed  the  notary.  "  Make  her  look  her  best  this 
evening,"  he  added,  with  a  cunning  twinkle. 

"  We  have  a  perfect  dress  for  her." 

"  The  dress  for  the  contract,  in  my  opinion,  is  half  the  set- 
tlements," said  Solonet. 

This  last  argument  struck  Madame  Evangelista  as  so  cogent 
that  she  insisted  on  helping  her  daughter  to  dress,  partly  to 
superintend  the  toilet,  but  also  to  secure  her  as  an  innocent 
accomplice  in  her  financial  plot.  And  her  daughter,  with  her 
hair  like  la  Sevigne's,  and  a  white  cashmere  dress  with  rose- 
colored  bows,  seemed  to  her  handsome  enough  to  assure  the 
victory. 

When  the  maid  had  left  them,  and  Madame  Evangelista 
was  sure  that  nobody  was  within  hearing,  she  arranged  her 
daughter's  curls  as  a  preliminary. 

"  My  dear  child,  are  you  sincerely  attached  to  Monsieur  de 
Manerville?  "  said  she  in  a  steady  voice. 

The  mother  and  daughter  exchanged  a  strangely  meaning 
glance. 

"  Why,  my  little  mother,  should  you  ask  to-day  rather  than 
yesterday?  Why  have  you  allowed  me  to  imagine  a  doubt?" 

"  If  it  were  to  part  you  from  me  for  ever,  would  you  marry 
him  all  the  same?" 

"  I  could  give  him  up  without  dying  of  grief." 

"Then  you  do  not  love  him,  my  dear,"  said  the  mother, 
kissing  her  daughter's  forehead. 

"But  why,  my  dear  mamma,  are  you  playing  the  grand 
inquisitor?" 

"  I  wanted  to  see  if  you  cared  to  be  married  without  being 
madly  in  love  with  your  husband." 


346  A.  MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

"I  like  him." 

"  You  are  right ;  he  is  a  count,  and,  between  us,  he  shall  be 
made  peer  of  France.  But  there  will  be  difficulties." 

"  Difficulties  between  people  who  care  for  each  other  ?  No  ! 
This  Sweet-pea,  my  mother,  is  too  well  planted  there,"  and 
she  pointed  to  her  heart  with  a  pretty  gesture,  "  to  make  the 
smallest  objection;  I  am  sure  of  that." 

"  But  if  it  were  not  so  ?  " 

"  I  should  utterly  forget  him." 

"  Well  said !  You  are  a  Casa-Real.  But  though  he  is 
madly  in  love  with  you,  if  certain  matters  were  discussed 
which  do  not  immediately  concern  him,  but  which  he  would 
have  to  make  the  best  of  for  your  sake  and  mine,  Natalie,  eh  ? 
If,  without  proceeding  in  the  least  too  far,  a  little  graciousncss 
of  manner  might  turn  the  scale?  A  mere  nothing,  you  know, 
a  word  ?  Men  are  like  that — they  can  resist  sound  argument 
and  yield  to  a  glance." 

"  I  understand  !  A  little  touch  just  to  make  Favorite  leap 
the  gate,"  said  Natalie  with  a  flourish  as  if  she  were  whipping 
a  horse. 

"  My  darling,  I  do  not  wish,  you  to  do  anything  approach- 
ing to  invitation.  We  have  traditions  of  old  Castilian  pride 
which  will  never  allow  us  to  go  too  far.  The  count  will  be 
informed  of  my  situation." 

"  What  situation?" 

"You  would  not  understand  if  I  told  you.  Well,  if  after 
peeing  you  in  all  your  beauty  his  eye  should  betray  the  slightest 
hesitancy — and  I  shall  watch  him — at  that  instant  I  should 
break  the  whole  thing  off;  I  should  turn  everything  into 
money,  leave  Bordeaux,  and  go  to  Douai,  to  the  Claes,  who, 
after  all,  are  related  to  us  through  the  Temnincks.  Then  I 
would  find  a  French  peer  for  your  husband,  even  if  I  had  to 
take  refuge  in  a  convent  and  give  you  my  whole  fortune." 

"My  dear  mother,  what  can  I  do  to  hinder  such  misfor- 
tunes? "  said  Natalie. 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  347 

"  I  never  saw  you  lovelier,  my  child  !  Be  a  little  purposely 
attractive,  and  all  will  be  well." 

Madame  Evangelista  left  Natalie  pensive,  and  went  to 
achieve  a  toilet  which  allowed  her  to  stand  a  comparison  with 
her  daughter.  If  Natalie  was  to  fascinate  Paul,  must  not  she 
herself  fire  the  enthusiasm  of  her  champion  Solonet? 

The  mother  and  daughter  were  armed  for  conquest  when 
Paul  arrived  with  the  bouquet  which  for  some  months  past  had 
been  his  daily  offering  to  Natalie.  Then  they  sat  chatting 
while  awaiting  the  lawyers. 

This  day  was  to  Paul  the  first  skirmish  in  the  long  and 
weary  warfare  of  married  life.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to 
review  the  forces  on  either  side,  to  place  the  belligerents,  and 
to  define  the  field  on  which  they  are  to  do  battle. 

To  second  him  in  a  struggle  of  which  he  did  not  in  the 
least  appreciate  the  consequences,  Paul  had  nobody  but  his 
old  lawyer  Mathias.  They  were  each  to  be  surprised  unarmed 
by  an  unexpected  manoeuvre,  driven  by  an  enemy  whose  plans 
were  laid,  and  compelled  to  act  without  having  time  -  for 
reflection.  What  man  but  would  have  failed  even  with  Cujas 
and  Barthole  to  back  him  ?  How  should  he  fear  perfidy  when 
everything  seemed  so  simple  and  natural? 

What  could  Mathias  do  single-handed  against  Madame 
Evangelista,  Solonet,  and  Natalie,  especially  when  his  client 
was  a  lover  who  would  go  over  to  the  enemy  as  soon  as  his 
happiness  should  seem  to  be  imperiled  ?  Paul  was  already 
entangling  himself  by  making  the  pretty  speeches  customary 
with  lovers,  to  which  his  passion  gave  an  emphasis  of  immense 
value  in  the  eyes  of  Madame  Evangelista,  who  was  leading 
him  on  to  commit  himself. 

The  matrimonial  condottieri  (mercenary  soldiers),  who  were 
about  to  do  battle  for  their  clients,  and  whose  personal  prowess 
would  prove  decisive  in  this  solemn  contest — the  two  notaries 
— represented  the  old  and  the  new  schools,  the  old  and  the 
ntw  style  of  notary. 


348  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

Maitre  Mathias  was  a  worthy  old  man  of  sixty-nine,  proud 
of  twenty  years'  practice  in  his  office.  His  broad,  gouty  feet 
were  shod  in  shoes  with  silver  buckles,  and  were  an  absurd 
finish  to  legs  so  thin,  with  such  prominent  knee-bones,  that 
when  he  crossed  his  feet  they  looked  like  the  cross-bones  on  a 
tombstone.  His  lean  thighs,  lost  in  baggy,  black  knee- 
breeches  with  silver  buckles,  seemed  to  bend  under  the  weight 
of  a  burly  stomach  and  the  round  shoulders  characteristic  of 
men  who  live  in  an  office ;  a  huge  ball,  always  clothed  in  a 
green  coat  with  square-cut  skirts,  which  no  one  remembered 
ever  to  have  seen  new.  His  hair,  tightly  combed  back  and 
powdered,  was  tied  in  a  rat's-tail  that  always  tucked  itself 
away  between  the  collar  of  his  coat  and  that  of  his  flowered 
white  vest.  With  his  bullet  head,  his  face  as  red  as  a 
vine-leaf,  his  blue  eyes,  trumpet-nose,  thick  lips,  and  double- 
chin,  the  dear  little  man,  wherever  he  went,  aroused  the 
laughter  so  liberally  bestowed  by  the  French  on  the  grotesque 
creations  which  Nature  sometimes  allows  herself  and  Art 
thinks  it  funny  to  exaggerate,  calling  them  caricatures. 

But  in  Maitre  Mathias  the  mind  had  triumped  over  the  body, 
the  qualities  of  the  soul  had  vanquished  the  eccentricity  of 
his  appearance.  Most  of  the  townsfolk  treated  him  with 
friendly  respect  and  deference  full  of  esteem.  The  notary's 
voice  won  all  hearts  by  the  eloquent  ring  of  honesty.  His 
only  cunning  consisted  in  going  straight  to  the  point,  over- 
setting every  evil  thought  by  the  directness  of  his  questions. 
His  sharply  observant  eye,  and  his  long  experience  of  busi- 
I  ness,  gave  him  that  spirit  of  divination  which  allowed  him  to 
read  consciences  and  discern  the  most  secret  thoughts. 
Though  grave  and  quiet  in  business,  this  patriarch  had  the 
cheerfulness  of  our  ancestors.  He  might,  one  felt,  risk  a 
song  at  table,  accept  and  keep  up  family  customs,  celebrate 
anniversaries  and  birthdays,  whether  of  grandparents  or 
children,  and  burn  the  Christmas  log  with  due  ceremony ;  he 
loved  to  give  New  Year's  gifts,  to  invent  surprises,  and  bring 


A    MA K K 1 'AGE   SETTLEMENT.  349 

out  Easter  eggs ;  he  believed,  no  doubt,  in  the  duties  of  a 
godfather,  and  would  never  neglect  any  old-time  custom  that 
gave  color  to  life  of  yore. 

Maitre  Mathias  was  a  noble  and  a  respectable  survival  of 
the  notaries,  obscure  men  of  honor,  of  whom  no  receipt  was 
asked  for  millions,  and  who  returned  them  in  the  same  bags, 
tied  with  the  same  string ;  who  fulfilled  every  trust  to  the 
letter,  drew  up  inventories  for  probate  with  decent  feeling, 
took  a  paternal  interest  in  their  clients'  affairs,  put  a  bar 
sometimes  in  the  way  of  a  spendthrift,  and  were  the  deposi- 
tories of  family  secrets ;  in  short,  one  of  those  notaries  who 
considered  themselves  responsible  for  blunders  in  their  deeds, 
and  who  gave  time  and  thought  to  them.  Never,  in  the  whole 
of  his  career  as  a  notary,  had  one  of  his  clients  to  complain  of 
a  bad  investment,  of  a  mortgage  ill-chosen  or  carelessly  man- 
aged. His  wealth,  slowly  but  honestly  acquired,  had  been 
accumulated  through  thirty  years  of  industry  and  economy. 
He  had  found  places  for  fourteen  of  his  clerks.  Religious  and 
generous  in  secret,  Mathias  was  always  to  be  found  where 
good  was  to  be  done  without  reward.  He  was  an  acting 
member  of  the  Board  of  Asylums  and  the  Charitable  Com- 
mittee, and  the  largest  subscriber  to  the  voluntary  taxes  for 
relief  of  unexpected  disaster,  or  the  establishment  of  some 
useful  institution.  Thus,  neither  he  nor  his  wife  had  a  car- 
riage ;  his  word  was  sacred  ;  he  had  as  much  money  deposited 
in  his  cellar  as  lay  at  the  bank;  he  was  known  as  "Good 
Monsieur  Mathias;"  and  when  he  died,  three  thousand  per- 
sons followed  him  to  the  grave. 

Solonet  was  the  youthful  notary  who  comes  in  humming  a 
tune,  who  affects  an  airy  manner,  and  declares  that  business 
may  be  done  quite  as  efficiently  with  a  laugh  as  with  a  serious 
countenance ;  the  notary  who  is  a  captain  in  the  National 
Guard,  who  does  not  like  to  be  known  for  a  lawyer,  and  aims 
at  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  who  keeps  his  carriage 
and  leaves  the  correcting  of  his  deeds  to  his  clerks ;  the  notary 


350  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

who  goes  to  balls  and  to  the  play,  who  buys  pictures  and  plays 
ecarte,  who  has  a  cash  drawer  into  which  he  pours  deposit- 
money,  repaying  in  notes  what  he  receives  in  gold  ;  the  notary 
who  keeps  pace  with  the  times  and  risks  his  capital  in  doubtful 
investments,  who  speculates,  hoping  to  retire  with  an  income 
of  thirty  thousand  francs  after  ten  years  in  his  office ;  the 
notary  whose  acumen  is  the  outcome  of  duplicity,  and  who  is 
feared  by  many  as  an  accomplice  in  possession  of  their  secrets ; 
the  notary  who  regards  his  official  position  as  a  means  of  mar- 
rying some  blue-stocking  heiress. 

When  the  fair  and  elegant  Solonet — all  curled  and  scented, 
booted  like  a  lover  of  the  Vaudeville,  and  dressed  like  a 
dandy  whose  most  important  business  is  a  duel — entered  the 
room  before  his  older  colleague,  who  walked  slowly  from  a 
touch  of  the  gout,  the  two  were  the  living  representatives  of 
one  of  the  caricatures  entitled  "Then  and  Now,"  which  had 
great  success  under  the  Empire. 

Though  Madame  and  Mademoiselle  Evangelista,  to  whom 
"  Good  Monsieur  Mathias  "  was  a  stranger,  at  first  felt  a  slight 
inclination  to  laugh,  they  were  at  once  touched  by  the  perfect 
grace  of  his  greeting.  The  worthy  man's  speech  was  full  of 
the  amenity  that  an  amiable  old  man  can  infuse  both  into 
what  he  says  and  the  manner  of  saying  it. 

The  younger  man,  with  his  frothy  sparkle,  was  at  once 
thrown  into  the  shade.  Mathias  showed  his  superior  breed- 
ing by  the  measured  respect  of  his  address  to  Paul.  Without 
humiliating  his  white  hairs,  he  recognized  the  young  man's 
(rank,  while  appreciating  the  fact  that  certain  honors  are  due 
to  old  age,  and  that  all  such  social  rights  are  interdependent. 
Solonet's  bow  and  "How  d'ye  do?"  were,  on  the  contrary, 
the  utterance  of  perfect  equality,  which  could  not  fail  to  offend 
the  susceptibilities  of  a  man  of  the  world,  and  to  make  him- 
self ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  a  man  of  rank. 

The  young  notary,  by  a  somewhat  familiar  gesture,  invited 
Madame  Evangelista  to  speak  with  him  in  a  window-recess. 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  351 

For  some  few  minutes  they  spoke  in  whispers,  laughing  now 
and  then,  no  doubt  to  mislead  the  others  as  to  the  importance 
of  the  conversation,  in  which  Maitre  Solonet  communicated 
the  plan  of  battle  to  the  lady  in  command. 

"And  could  you  really,"  said  he  in  conclusion,  "make  up 
your  mind  to  sell  your  house?" 

"Undoubtedly  !  "  said  she. 

Madame  Evangelista  did  not  choose  to  tell  her  lawyer  her 
reasons  for  such  heroism,  as  he  thought  it,  for  Solonet's  zeal 
might  have  cooled  if  he  had  known  that  his  client  meant  to 
leave  Bordeaux.  She  had  not  even  said  so  to  Paul,  not  wish- 
ing to  alarm  him  prematurely  by  the  extent  of  the  circumval- 
lations  needed  for  the  first  outworks  of  a  political  position. 

After  dinner  the  plenipotentiaries  left  the  lovers  with 
Madame  Evangelista,  and  went  into  an  adjoining  room  to 
discuss  business.  Thus  two  dramas  were  being  enacted :  by 
the  chimney-corner  in  the  drawing-room  a  love  scene  in  which 
life  smiled  bright  and  happy ;  in  the  study  a  serious  duologue, 
in  which  interest  was  laid  bare,  and  already  played  the  part 
it  always  fills  under  the  most  flowery,  cloudless,  and  summer- 
like  aspects  of  life. 

"My  dear  sir,  the  deed  will  be  in  your  hands;  I  know 
what  I  owe  to  my  senior."  Mathias  bowed  gravely.  "But," 
Solonet  went  on,  unfolding  a  rough  draft,  of  no  use  whatever, 
that  a  clerk  had  written  out,  "  as  we  are  the  weaker  party,  as 
we  are  the  spinster,  I  have  drafted  the  articles  to  save  you  the 
trouble.  We  propose  to  marry  with  all  our  rights  on  a  foot- 
ing of  possession  in  common,  an  unqualified  settlement  of  all 
estate,  real  and  personal,  each  on  the  other  in  case  of  decease 
without  issue;  or,  if  issue  survive  them,  a  settlement  of  one- 
quarter  on  the  surviving  parent,  and  a  life-interest  in  one- 
quarter  more.  The  sum  thrown  into  common  stock  to  be 
one-quarter  of  the  estate  of  each  contracting  party,  the  survivor 
to  have  all  furniture  and  movables  without  exception  and 
duty  free.  It  is  all  as  plain  as  day." 


352  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"Ta,  ta,  ta,  ta,"  said  Mathias,  "  I  do  not  do  business  as 
you  would  sing  a  ballad.  What  have  you  to  show?" 

"  What  on  your  side  ?  "  asked  Solonet. 

"  We  have  to  settle,"  said  Mathias,  "  the  estate  of  Lanstrac, 
producing  twenty-three  thousand  francs  a  year  in  rents,  to  say 
nothing  of  produce  in  kind  :  Item  :  the  farms  of  le  Grassol  and 
le  Guadet,  each  let  for  three  thousand  six  hundred  francs. 
Item :  the  vineyards  of  Bellerose,  yielding  on  an  average  six- 
teen thousand — together  forty-six  thousand  two  hundred  francs 
a  year.  Item :  a  family  mansion  at  Bordeaux,  assessed  at  nine 
hundred.  Item:  a  fine  house  in  Paris,  with  a  forecourt  and 
garden,  Rue  de  la  Pepiniere,  assessed  at  fifteen  hundred. 
These  properties,  of  which  I  hold  the  title-deeds,  we  inherit 
from  our  parents,  excepting  the  house  in  Paris  acquired  by 
purchase.  We  have  also  to  include  the  furniture  of  the  two 
houses  and  of  the  castle  at  Lanstrac,  valued  at  four  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  francs.  There  you  have  the  table,  the 
cloth,  and  the  first  course.  Now  what  have  you  for  the  second 
course  and  the  dessert  ?  " 

"  Our  rights  and  expectations,"  said  Solonet. 

"  Specify,  my  dear  sir,"  replied  Mathias.  "What  have  you 
to  show  ?  Where  is  the  valuation  made  at  Monsieur  Evange- 
lista's  death  ?  Show  me  your  valuations,  and  the  investments 
you  hold.  Where  is  your  capital — if  you  have  any?  Where 
is  your  land — if  you  have  land  ?  Show  me  your  guardian's 
accounts,  and  tell  us  what  your  mother  gives  or  promises  to 
give  you." 

"*Is  Monsieur  le  Comte  de  Manerville  in  love  with  Made- 
moiselle Evangelista?" 

"  He  means  to  marry  her  if  everything  proves  suitable," 
said  the  old  notary.  "I  am  not  a  child;  this  is  a  matter  of 
business  and  not  of  sentiment." 

"The  business  will  fall  through  if  you  have  no  sentiment — 
and  generous  sentiment;  and  this  is  why,"  said  Solonet. 
"We  had  no  valuation  made  after  our  husband's  death. 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  353 

Spanish,  and  a  Creole,  we  knew  nothing  of  French  law.  And 
we  were  too  deeply  grieved  to  think  of  the  petty  formalities 
which  absorb  colder  hearts.  It  is  a  matter  of  public  notoriety 
that  the  deceased  gentleman  adored  his  wife,  and  that  we  were 
plunged  in  woe.  Though  we  had  a  probate  and  a  kind  of 
valuation  on  a  general  estimate,  you  may  thank  the  surrogate 
guardian  for  that,  who  called  upon  us  to  make  a  statement  and 
settle  a  sum  upon  our  daughter  as  best  we  might  just  at  a  time 
when  we  were  obliged  to  sell  out  of  the  English  Funds  to  an 
enormous  amount  which  we  wished  to  reinvest  in  Paris  at 
double  the  interest." 

"Come,  do  not  talk  nonsense  to  me.  There  are  means  of 
checking  these  amounts.  How  much  did  you  pay  in  succes- 
sion duties?  The  figure  will  be  enough  to  verify  the  amounts. 
Go  to  the  facts.  Tell  us  plainly  how  much  you  had,  and  what 
is  left.  And  then,  if  we  are  too  desperately  in  love,  we  shall 
see." 

"  Well,  if  you  are  marrying  for  money,  you  may  make  your 
bow  at  once.  We  may  lay  claim  to  more  than  a  million 
francs ;  but  our  mother  has  nothing  of  it  left  but  this  house 
and  furniture  and  four  hundred  odd  thousand  francs,  invested 
in  1817  in  five  per  cents.,  and  bringing  in  forty  thousand 
francs  a  year."  t 

"  How  then  do  you  keep  up  a  style  costing  a  hundred  thou- 
sand? "  cried  Mathias  in  dismay. 

"  Our  daughter  has  cost  us  vast  sums.  Beside,  we  like  dis- 
play. And,  finally,  all  your  jeremiads  will  not  bring  back 
two  sous  of  it." 

"  Mademoiselle  Natalie  might  have  been  very  handsomely 
brought  up  on  the  fifty  thousand  francs  a  year  that  belonged 
to  her  without  rushing  into  ruin.  And  if  you  ate  with  such 
an  appetite  as  a  girl,  what  will  you  not  devour  when  you  be- 
come a  wife?  " 

"Let  us  go  then,"  said  Solonet.     "The  handsomest  girl 
alive  is  bound  to  spend  more  than  she  has." 
23 


354  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

'•I  will  go  and  speak  two  words  to  my  client,"  said  the 
older  lawyer. 

"Go,  go,"  thought  Maitre  Solonet.  "Go,  old  Father 
Cassandra,  and  tell  your  client  we  have  not  a  centime."  For, 
in  the  silence  of  his  private  office,  he  had  strategically  dis- 
posed of  his  masses,  formed  his  arguments  in  columns,  fixed 
the  turning-points  of  the  discussion,  and  prepared  the  critical 
moment  when  the  antagonistic  parties,  thinking  all  was  lost, 
would  jump  at  a  compromise  which  would  be  the  triumph  of 
his  client. 

The  flowing  dress  with  pink  ribbons,  the  ringlets  a  la  Se- 
vigne,  Natalie's  small  foot,  her  insinuating  looks,  her  slender 
hand,  constantly  engaged  in  rearranging  the  curls  which  did 
not  need  it — all  the  tricks  of  a  girl  showing  off,  as  a  peacock 
spreads  its  tail  in  the  sun — had  brought  Paul  to  the  point  at 
which  her  mother  wished  to  see  him.  He  was  crazy  with 
admiration,  as  crazy  as  a  schoolboy  for  a  courtesan ;  his  looks* 
an  unfailing  thermometer  of  the  mind,  marked  the  frenzy  of 
passion  which  leads  a  man  to  commit  a  thousand  follies. 

"Natalie  is  so  beautiful,"  he  whispered  to  Madame  Evan- 
gelista,  "that  I  can  understand  the  madness  which  drives  us 
to  pay  for  pleasure  by  death." 

The  lady  tossed  her  head. 

"A  lover's  words!"  she  replied.     "My  husband  never 
made  me  such  fine  speeches ;  but  he  married  me  penniless, 
and  never  in  thirteen  years  gave  me  an  instant's  pain." 
I  "  Is  that  a  hint  for  me  ?  "  said  Paul,  smiling. 

"You  know  how  truly  I  care  for  you,  dear  boy,"  said  she, 
pressing  his  hand.  "  Beside,  do  you  not  think  I  must  love 
you  well  to  be  willing  to  give  you  my  Natalie  ?  " 

"To  give  me!  To  give  me!"  cried  the  girl,  laughing 
and  waving  a  fan  of  Indian  feathers.  "  What  are  you  whis- 
pering about?" 

"I,"  said  Paul,  "was  saying  how  well  I  love  you — since 
the  proprieties  forbid  my  expressing  my  hopes  to  you. ' ' 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  355 

"Why?" 

"  I  am  afraid  of  myself." 

"  Oh  !  you  are  too  clever  not  to  know  how  to  set  the  gems 
of  flattery.  Would  you  like  me  to  tell  you  what  I  think  of 
you  ?  Well,  you  seem  to  me  to  have  more  wit  than  a  man  in 
love  should  show.  To  be  Sweet-pea  and  at  the  same  time 
very  clever,"  said  she,  looking  down,  "seems  to  me  an 
unfair  advantage.  A  man  ought  to  choose  between  the  two. 
I,  too,  am  afraid." 

"Of  what?" 

"We  will  not  talk  like  this.  Do  not  you  think,  mother, 
that  there  is  danger  in  such  a  conversation  when  the  contract 
is  not  yet  signed  ?" 

"But  it  will  be,"  said  Paul. 

"  I  should  very  much  like  to  know  what  Achilles  and  Nestor 
are  saying  to  each  other,"  said  Natalie,  with  a  glance  of  child- 
like curiosity  at  the  door  of  the  adjoining  room. 

"They  are  discussing  our  children,  our  death,  and  I  know 
not  what  trifles  beside,"  said  Paul.  "  They  are  counting  out 
our  crown-pieces,  to  tell  us  whether  we  may  have  five  horses 
in  the  stable.  And  they  are  considering  certain  deeds  of  gift, 
but  I  have  forestalled  them  there." 

"How?"  said  Natalie. 

"Have  I  not  given  you  myself  wholly  and  all  I  have?" 
said  he,  looking  at  the  girl,  who  was  handsomer  than  ever  as 
the  blush  brought  up  by  her  pleasure  at  this  reply  mounted  to 
her  cheeks. 

"  Mother,  how  am  I  to  repay  such  generosity?" 

"  My  dear  child,  is  not  your  life  before  you  ?  If  you  make 
him  happy  every  day,  is  not  that  a  gift  of  inexhaustible  treas- 
ures ?  I  had  no  other  fortune." 

"  Do  you  like  Lanstrac  ?  "  asked  Paul. 

"  How  can  I  fail  to  like  anything  that  is  yours?  "  said  she. 
"And  I  should  like  to  see  your  house." 

"  Our  house,"  said  Paul.     "  You  want  to  see  whether  I 


356  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

have  anticipated  your  tastes,  if  you  can  be  happy  there  ?  Your 
mother  has  made  your  husband's  task  a  hard  one  :  you  have 
always  been  so  happy ;  but  when  love  is  infinite,  nothing  is 
impossible." 

"  Dear  children,"  said  Madame  Evangelista,  "  do  you  think 
you  can  remain  in  Bordeaux  during  the  early  days  of  your 
marriage  ?  If  you  feel  bold  enough  to  face  the  world  that 
knows  you,  watches  you,  criticises  you — well  and  good  !  But- 
if  you  both  have  that  coyness  which  dwells  in  the  soul  and 
finds  no  utterance,  we  will  go  to  Paris,  where  the  life  of  a 
young  couple  is  lost  in  the  torrent.  There  only  can  you  live 
like  lovers  without  fear  of  ridicule." 

"You  are  right,  mother;  I  had  not  thought  of  it.  But  I 
shall  hardly  have  time  to  get  the  house  ready.  I  will  write 
this  evening  to  de  Marsay,  a  friend  on  whom  I  can  rely,  to 
hurry  on  the  workmen." 

At  the  very  moment  when,  like  all  young  men  who  are 
accustomed  to  gratify  their  wishes  without  any  preliminary 
reflection,  Paul  was  recklessly  pledging  himself  to  the  expenses 
of  a  residence  in  Paris,  Maitre  Mathias  came  into  the  room 
and  signed  to  his  client  to  come  and  speak  with  him. 

"What  is  it,  my  good  friend?"  said  Paul,  allowing  him- 
self to  be  led  aside. 

"Monsieur  le  Comte,"  said  the  worthy  man,  "the  lady  has 
pot  a  sou.  My  advice  is  to  put  off  this  discussion  till  another 
day  to  give  you  the  opportunity  of  acting  with  propriety." 

"Monsieur  Paul,"  said  Natalie,  "I  also  should  like  a 
private  word  with  you." 

Though  Madame-  Evangelista's  face  was  calm,  no  Jew  in 
the  Dark  Ages  ever  suffered  greater  martyrdom  in  his  caldron 
of  boiling  oil  than  she  in  her  violet  velvet  dress.  Solonet 
had  pledged  himself  to  the  marriage,  but  she  knew  not  by 
what  means  and  conditions  he  meant  to  succeed,  and  she  en- 
dured the  most  dreadful  anguish  of  alternative  courses.  She 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  357 

really  owed  her  triumph,  perhaps,  to  her  daughter's  disobedi- 
ence. 

Natalie  had  put  her  own  interpretation  on  her  mother's 
words,  for  she  could  not  fail  to  see  her  uneasiness.  When  she 
perceived  the  effect  of  her  advances,  her  mind  was  torn  by  a 
thousand  contradictory  thoughts.  Without  criticising  her 
mother,  she  felt  half  ashamed  of  this  manoeuvring,  of  which 
the  result  was  obviously  to  be  some  definite  advantage.  Then 
she  was  seized  by  a  very  intelligible  sort  of  jealous  curiosity. 
She  wanted  to  ascertain  whether  Paul  loved  her  well  enough 
to  overlook  the  difficulties  her  mother  had  alluded  to,  and  of 
which  the  existence  was  proved  by  Maitre  Mathias'  cloudy 
brow.  These  feelings  prompted  her  to  an  impulse  of  honesty 
which,  in  fact,  became  her  well.  The  blackest  perfidy  would 
have  been  less  dangerous  than  her  innocence  was. 

"  Paul,"  said  she  in  an  undertone,  and  it  was  the  first  time 
she  had  addressed  him  by  his  name,  "  if  some  difficulties  of 
money  matters  could  divide  us,  understand  that  I  release  you 
from  every  pledge,  and  give  you  leave  to  ascribe  to  me  all  the 
blame  that  could  arise  from  such  a  separation." 

She  spoke  with  such  perfect  dignity  in  the  expression  of  her 
generosity  that  Paul  believed  in  her  disinterestedness  and 
her  ignorance  of  the  fact  which  the  notary  had  just  com- 
municated to  him  ;  he  pressed  the  girl's  hand,  kissing  it  like 
a  man  to  whom  love  is  far  dearer  than  money. 

Natalie  left  the  room. 

"Bless  me  !  Monsieur  le  Comte,  you  are  committing  great 
follies,"  growled  the  old  notary,  rejoining  his  client. 

But  Paul  stood  pensive  ;  he  had  expected  to  have  an  income 
of  about  a  hundred  thousand  francs  by  uniting  his  fortune 
and  Natalie's;  and  however  blindly  in  love  a  man  may  be, 
he  does  not  drop  without  a  pang  from  a  hundred  thousand  to 
forty-six  thousand  francs  a  year  when  he  marries  a  woman 
accustomed  to  every  luxury. 

"  My  daughter  then  is  gone,"  said  Madame  Evangelista, 


358  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

advancing  with  royal  dignity  to  where  Paul  and  the  notary 
•were  standing.  "  Can  you  not  tell  me  what  is  going  on  !  " 

"Madame,"  said  Mathias,  dismayed  by  Paul's  silence,  and 
forced  to  break  the  ice,  "  an  impediment — a  delay " 

On  this,  Maitre  Solonet  came  out  of  the  inner  room  and 
interrupted  his  senior  with  a  speech  that  restored  Paul  to  life. 
Overwhelmed  by  the  recollection  of  his  own  devoted  speeches 
and  lover-like  attitude,  Paul  knew  not  how  to  withdraw  or  to 
modify  them  ;  he  only  longed  to  fling  himself  into  some 
yawning  gulf. 

"  There  is  a  way  of  releasing  Madame  Evangelista  from  her 
debt  to  her  daughter,"  said  the  young  lawyer  with  airy  ease. 
"  Madame  Evangelista  holds  securities  for  forty  thousand 
francs  yearly  in  five  per  cents.;  the  capital  will  soon  be  at 
par,  if  not  higher ;  we  may  call  it  eight  hundred  thousand 
francs.  This  house  and  garden  are  worth  certainly  two 
hundred  thousand.  Granting  this,  madame  may,  under  the 
marriage-contract,  transfer  the  securities  and  title-deeds  to 
her  daughter,  reserving  only  the  life-interest,  for  I  cannot 
suppose  that  the  count  wishes  to  leave  his  mother-in-law 
penniless.  Though  madame  has  spent  her  own  fortune,  she 
will  thus  restore  her  daughter's,  all  but  a  trifling  sum." 

"Women  are  most  unfortunate  when  they  do  not  under- 
stand business,"  said  Madame  Evangelista.  "I  have  securi- 
ties and  title-deeds?  What  in  the  world  are  they?" 

Paul  was  enraptured  as  he  heard  this  proposal.  The  old 
lawyer,  seeing  the  snare  spread  and  his  client  with  one  foot 
already  caught  in  it,  stood  petrified,  saying  to  himself— 

"  I  believe  we  are  being  tricked  !  " 

"  If  madame  takes  my  advice,  she  will  at  least  secure  peace," 
the  younger  man  went  on.  "If  she  sacrifices  herself,  at  least 
she  will  not  be  worried  by  the  young  people.  Who  can  fore- 
see who  will  live  or  die  ?  Monsieur  le  Comte  will  then  sign 
a  release  for  the  whole  sum  due  to  Mademoiselle  Evangelista 
out  of  her  father's  fortune." 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  359 

Mathias  could  not  conceal  the  wrath  that  sparkled  in  his 
eyes  and  crimsoned  his  face. 

"A  sum  of ?  "  he  asked,  trembling  with  indignation. 

"  Of  one  million  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand  francs, 
according  to  the  deed " 

"  Why  do  you  not  ask  Monsieur  le  Comte  hie  et  nunc  (here 
and  now)  to  renounce  all  claims  on  his  wife's  fortune?"  said 
Mathias.  "  It  would  be  more  straightforward.  Well,  Mon- 
sieur le  Comte  de  Manerville's  ruin  shall  not  be  accomplished 
under  my  eyes.  I  beg  to  withdraw." 

He  went  a  step  toward  the  door,  to  show  his  client  that  the 
matter  was  really  serious.  But  he  turned  back,  and,  addressing 
Madame  Evangelista,  he  said — 

"  Do  not  suppose,  madame,  that  I  imagine  you  to  be  in  col- 
lusion with  my  colleague  in  his  ideas.  I  believe  you  to  be  an 
honest  woman — a  fine  lady,  who  knows  nothing  of  business." 

"  Thank  you,  my  dear  sir  !  "  retorted  Solonet. 

"  You  know  that  there  is  no  question  of  offense  among 
lawyers,"  said  Mathias.  "But  at  least,  madame,  let  me  ex- 
plain to  you  the  upshot  of  this  bargain.  You  are  still  young 
enough  and  handsome  enough  to  marry  again.  Oh,  dear 
me !  "  he  went  on,  in  reply  to  a  gesture  of  the  lady's,  "who 
can  answer  for  the  future?" 

"I  never  thought,  monsieur,"  said  she,  "that  after  seven 
years  of  widowhood  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  after  refusing 
some  splendid  offers  for  my  daughter's  sake,  I  should,  at  nine- 
and-thirty,  be  thought  capable  of  such  madness.  If  we  were 
not  discussing  business,  I  should  regard  such  a  speech  as  an 
impertinence." 

"Would  it  not  be  a  greater  impertinence  to  assume  that 
you  could  not  remarry?  " 

"Can  and  will  are  very  different  words,"  said  Solonet, 
with  a  gallant  flourish. 

"Well,"  said  Mathias,  "we  need  not  talk  about  your  mar- 
rying. You  may — and  we  all  hope  you  will — live  for  five-and- 


360  A   MARRIAGE^SETTLEMENT. 

forty  years  yet.  Now,  since  you  are  to  retain  your  life-interest 
in  the  income  left  by  Monsieur  Evangelista  as  long  as  you 
live,  must  your  children  dine  with  Duke  Humphrey?  "* 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  it  all?  "  said  the  widow.  "  Who 
is  Duke  Humphrey,  and  what  is  life-interest?" 

Solonet,  a  speaker  of  elegance  and  taste,  began  to  laugh. 

"I  will  translate,"  said  the  old  man:  "If  your  children 
wish  to  be  prudent,  they  will  think  of  the  future.  To  think 
of  the  future  means  to  save  half  one's  income,  supposing  there 
are  no  more  than  two  children,  who  must  first  have  a  good 
education,  and  then  a  handsome  marriage-portion.  Thus,  your 
daughter  and  her  husband  will  be  reduced  to  living  on  twenty 
thousand  francs  a  year  when  they  have  each  been  accustomed 
to  spend  fifty  thousand  while  unmarried.  And  even  that  is 
nothing.  My  client  will  be  expected  to  hand  over  to  his 
children  in  due  course  eleven  hundred  thousand  francs  as 
their  share  of  their  mother's  fortune,  and  he  will  never  have 
received  any  of  it  if  his  wife  should  die  and  madame  survive 
her — which  is  quite  possible.  In  all  conscience,  is  not  this  to 
throw  himself  into  the  Gironde,  tied  hand  and  foot  ?  You 
wish  to  see  Mademoiselle  Natalie  made  happy  ?  If  she  loves 
her  husband — which  no  lawyer  allows  himself  to  doubt — she 
will  share  his  troubles.  Madame,  I  foresee  enough  to  make 
her  die  of  grief,  for  she  will  be  miserably  poor.  Yes,  madame, 
miserably  poor ;  for  it  is  poverty  to  those  who  require  a  hun- 
dred thousand  francs  a  year  to  be  reduced  to  twenty  thousand. 
If  love  should  lead  Monsieur  le  Comte  into  extravagance,  his 
wife  would  reduce  him  to  beggary  by  claiming  her  share  in 
the  event  of  any  disaster. 

"I  am  arguing  for  your  sake,  for  theirs,  for  that  of  their 
children — for  all  parties." 

"The  good  man  has  certainly  delivered  a  broadside," 
thought  Solonet,  with  a  glance  at  his  client,  as  much  as  to 
say:  "  Come  on  !  " 

*  To  go  hungry. 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  361 

"There  is  a  way  of  reconciling  all  these  interests,"  replied 
Madame  Evangelista  calmly.  "I  may  reserve  only  such  a 
small  allowance  as  may  enable  me  to  go  into  a  convent,  and 
you  will  become  at  once  possessed  of  all  my  property.  I  will 
renounce  the  world  if  my  death  to  it  will  secure  my  daughter's 
happiness." 

"  Madame,"  said  the  old  man,  "  let  us  take  time  for  mature 
consideration  of  the  steps  that  may  smooth  away  all  difficul- 
ties." 

"Bless  me,  my  dear  sir,"  cried  Madame  Evangelista,  who 
foresaw  that  by  delay  she  would  be  lost,  "  all  has  been  con- 
sidered. I  did  not  know  what  marriage  meant  in  France ;  I 
am  a  Spanish  creole.  I  did  not  know  that  before  I  could  see 
my  daughter  married  I  had  to  make  sure  how  many  days 
longer  God  would  grant  me  to  live,  that  my  child  would  be 
wronged  by  my  living,  that  I  have  no  business  to  be  alive  or 
ever  to  have  lived  ! 

"When  my  husband  married  me  I  had  nothing  but  my 
name  and  myself.  My  name  was  to  him  a  treasure  beside 
which  his  wealth  paled.  What  fortune  can  compare  with  a 
great  name?  My  fortune  was  my  beauty,  virtue,  happy 
temper,  birth,  and  breeding.  Can  money  buy  these  gifts? 
If  Natalie's  father  could  hear  this  discussion,  his  magnanimous 
spirit  would  be  grieved  forever  and  his  happiness  would  be 
marred  in  paradise.  I  spent  millions  of  francs,  foolishly  I 
daresay,  without  his  ever  frowning  even.  Since  his  death  I 
have  been  economical  and  thrifty  by  comparison  with  the 
life  he  liked  me  to  lead.  Let  this  end  it !  Monsieur  de 
Manerville  is  so  dejected  that  I " 

No  words  can  represent  the  confusion  and  excitement  pro- 
duced by  this  exclamation  "end  it!"  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  these  four  well-bred  persons  all  talked  at  once. 

"  In  Spain  you  marry  Spanish  fashion,  as  you  will ;  but  in 
France  you  marry  French  fashion — rationally,  and  as  you 
can,"  said  Mathias. 


362  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"Ah,  madame,"  Paul  began,  rousing  himself  from  his 
stupor,  "  you  are  mistaken  in  my  feelings — 

"This  is  not  a  question  of  feelings,"  said  the  old  man, 
anxious  to  stop  his  client;  "this  is  business  affecting  three 
generations.  Was  it  we  who  made  away  with  the  missing 
millions — we,  who  merely  ask  to  clear  up  the  difficulties  of 
which  we  are  innocent?" 

"Let  us  marry  without  further  haggling,"  said  the  wily 
Maitre  Solonet. 

"  Haggling  !  Haggling  !  Do  you  call  it  haggling  to  defend 
the  interests  of  the  children  and  of  their  father  and  mother?  " 
cried  Mathias. 

"Yes,"  Paul  went  on,  addressing  his  mother-in-law,  "I 
deplore  the  recklessness  of  my  youth,  which  now  hinders  my 
closing  this  discussion  with  a  word,  as  much  as  you  deplore 
your  ignorance  of  business  matters  and  involuntary  extrava- 
gance. God  be  my  witness  that  at  this  moment  I  am  not 
thinking  of  myself;  a  quiet  life  at  Lanstrac  has  no  terrors  for 
me ;  but  Mademoiselle  Natalie  would  have  to  give  up  her 
tastes  and  habits.  That  would  alter  our  whole  existence." 

"But  where  did  Evangelista  find  his  millions ?"  said  the 
widow. 

"  Monsieur  Evangelista  was  a  man  of  business,  he  played 
the  great  game  of  commerce,  he  loaded  ships  and  made  con- 
siderable sums  ;  we  are  a  landed  proprietor,  our  capital  is 
sunk,  and  our  income  more  or  less  fixed,"  the  old  lawyer 
replied. 

"Still,  there  is  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty,"  said  Solonet, 
speaking  in  a  high-pitched  key,  and  silencing  the  other  three 
by  attracting  their  attention  and  their  eyes. 

The  young  man  was  like  a  dexterous  coachman  who,  holding 
the  reins  of  a  four-in-hand,  amuses  himself  by  lashing  and,  at 
the  same  time,  holding  in  the  team.  He  spurred  their  pas- 
sions and  soothed,  them  by  turns,  making  Paul  foam  in  his 
harness,  for  to  him  life  and  happiness  were  in  the  balance ; 


A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  363 

and  his  client  as  well,  for  she  did  not  see  her  way  through  the 
intricacies  of  the  dispute. 

"  Madame  Evangelista  may,  this  very  day,  hand  over  the 
securities  in  the  five  per  cents.,  and  sell  this  house.  Sold  in 
lots,  it  will  fetch  three  hundred  thousand  francs.  Madame 
will  pay  you  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs.  Thus, 
madame  will  pay  down  nine  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs 
at  once.  Though  this  is  not  all  she  owes  her  daughter,  can 
you  find  many  fortunes  to  match  it  in  France?" 

"Well  and  good,"  said  Mathias  ;  "  but  what  is  madame  to 
live  on?  " 

At  this  question,  which  implied  assent,  Solonet  said  within 
himself — 

"  Oh,  ho  !  old  fox,  so  you  are  caught." 

"  Madame  ?  "  he  said  aloud.  "  Madame  will  keep  the  fifty 
thousand  crowns  left  of  the  price  of  the  house.  That  sum, 
added  to  the  sale  of  her  furniture,  can  be  invested  in  an  an- 
nuity, and  will  give  her  twenty  thousand  francs  a  year.  Mon- 
sieur le  Comte  will  arrange  for  her  to  live  with  him.  Lanstrac 
is  a  large  place.  You  have  a  good  house  in  Paris,"  he  went 
on,  addressing  Paul,  "so  madame  your  mother-in-law  can  live 
with  you  wherever  you  are.  A  widow  who,  having  no  house 
to  keep  up,  has  twenty  thousand  francs  a  year,  is  better  off 
than  madame  was  when  she  was  mistress  of  all  her  fortune. 
Madame  Evangelista  has  no  one  to  care  for  but  her  daughter ; 
Monsieur  le  Comte  also  stands  alone ;  your  heirs  are  in  the 
distant  future,  there  is  no  fear  of  conflicting  interests. 

"A  son-in-law  and  a  mother-in-law  under  such  circum- 
stances always  join  to  form  one  household.  Madame  Evan- 
gelista will  make  up  for  the  deficit  of  capital  by  paying  a  quota 
out  of  her  annuity  which  will  help  toward  the  housekeeping. 
We  know  her  to  be  too  generous,  too  large-minded,  to  live  as 
a  charge  on  her  children. 

"  Thus,  you  may  live  happy  and  united  with  a  hundred 
thousand  francs  a  year  to  spend — a  sufficient  income,  surely, 


364  A    MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

Monsieur  le  Comte,  to  afford  you,  in  any  country,  all  the 
comforts  of  life  and  the  indulgence  of  your  fancies.  And, 
believe  me,  young  married  people  often  feel  the  need  of  a 
third  in  the  household.  Now,  I  ask  you,  what  third  can  be 
more  suitable  than  an  affectionate,  good  mother?  " 

Paul,  as  he  listened  to  Solonet,  thought  he  heard  the  voice 
of  an  angel.  He  looked  at  Mathias  to  see  if  he  did  not  share 
his  admiration  for  Solonet's  fervid  eloquence  :  for  he  did  not 
know  that,  under  the  assumed  enthusiasm  of  impassioned 
words,  notaries,  like  attorneys,  hide  the  cold  and  unremitting 
alertness  of  the  diplomatist. 

"A  pretty  paradise  !  "  said  the  old  man. 

Bewildered  by  his  client's  delight,  Mathias  sat  down  on  an 
ottoman,  resting  his  head  on  one  hand,  lost  in  evidently 
grieved  meditations.  He  knew  too  well  the  ponderous  phrases 
in  which  men  of  business  purposely  shroud  their  tricks,  and 
he  was  not  the  man  to  be  duped  by  them.  He  stole  a  glance 
at  his  fellow-notary  and  at  Madame  Evangelista,  who  went 
on  talking  to  Paul,  and  he  tried  to  detect  some  indications  of 
the  plot  of  which  the  elaborate  design  was  beginning  to  be 
perceptible. 

"Monsieur,"  said  Paul  to  Solonet,  "I  have  to  thank  you 
for  the  care  you  have  devoted  to  the  conciliation  of  our  inter- 
ests. This  arrangement  solves  all  difficulties  more  happily 
than  I  had  dared  to  hope — that  is  to  say,  if  it  suits  you, 
madame,"  he  added,  turning  to  Madame  Evangelista,  "for  I 
will  have  nothing  to  say  to  any  plan  that  is  not  equally  satis- 
factory to  you." 

"  I  ?  "  said  she.  "  Whatever  will  make  my  children  happy 
will  delight  me.  Do  not  consider  me  at  all." 

"But  that  must  not  be,"  said  Paul  eagerly.  "If  your 
comfort  and  dignity  were  not  secured,  Natalie  and  I  would 
be  more  distressed  about  it  than  you  yourself  could  be." 

"  Do  not  be  uneasy  on  that  score,  Monsieur  le  Comte," 
said  Solonet. 


A   MAKKIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  365 

"  Ah  !  "  thought  Maitre  Mathias,  "  they  mean  to  make  him 
kiss  the  rod  before  they  scourge  him." 

"  Be  quite  easy,"  Solonet  went  on  ;  "  there  is  such  a  spirit 
of  speculation  in  Bordeaux  just  now  that  investments  for  an- 
nuities are  to  be  made  on  very  advantageous  terms.  After 
handing  over  to  you  the  fifty  thousand  crowns  due  to  you  on 
the  sale  of  the  house  and  furniture,  I  believe  I  may  guarantee 
to  madame  a  residue  of  two  hundred  thousand  francs.  This 
I  undertake  to  invest  in  an  annuity  on  a  first  mortgage  on  an 
estate  worth  a  million,  and  to  get  ten  per  cent.,  twenty-five 
thousand  francs  a  year.  Thus  we  should  unite  two  very  nearly 
equal  fortunes.  Mademoiselle  Natalie  will  bring  forty  thou- 
sand francs  a  year  in  five  per  cents,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  francs  in  money,  which  will  yield  seven  thousand 
francs  a  year:  total,  forty-seven  as  against  your  forty-six 
thousand." 

"  That  is  quite  plain,"  said  Paul. 

As  he  ended  his  speech,  Solonet  had  cast  a  side-long  glance 
at  his  client,  not  unseen  by  Mathias,  and  which  was  as  much 
as  to  say : 

"  Bring  up  your  reserves." 

"Why  !  "  cried  Madame  Evangelista  in  a  tone  of  joy  that 
seemed  quite  genuine,  "  I  can  give  Natalie  my  diamonds  ; 
they  must  be  worth  at  least  a  hundred  thousand  francs." 

"We  can  have  them  valued,"  said  Solonet,  "  and  this  en- 
tirely alters  the  case.  Nothing,  then,  can  hinder  Monsieur 
le  Comte  from  giving  a  discharge  in  full  for  the  sums  due  to 
Mademoiselle  Natalie  as  her  share  of  her  father's  fortune,  or 
the  betrothed  couple  from  taking  the  guardian's  accounts  as 
passed,  at  the  reading  of  the  contract.  If  madame.  with  truly 
Spanish  magnificence,  despoils  herself  to  fulfill  her  obligations 
within  a  hundred  thousand  francs  of  the  sum-total,  it  is  but 
fair  to  release  her." 

"  Nothing  could  be  fairer,"  said  Paul.  "  I  am  only  over- 
powered by  so  much  generosity." 


366  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

"Is  not  my  daughter  my  second  self?"  said  Madame 
Evangelista. 

Maitre  Mathias  detected  an  expression  of  joy  on  Madame 
Evangelista' s  face  when  she  saw  the  difficulties  so  nearly  set 
aside ;  and  this,  and  the  sudden  recollection  of  the  diamonds, 
brought  out  like  fresh  troops,  confirmed  all  his  suspicions. 

"The  scene  was  planned  between  them,"  thought  he,  "  as 
gamblers  pack  the  cards  when  some  pigeon  is  to  be  rooked. 
So  the  poor  boy  I  have  known  from  his  cradle  is  to  be  plucked 
alive  by  a  mother-in-law,  done  brown  by  love,  and  ruined  by 
his  wife  ?  After  taking  such  care  of  his  fine  estate,  am  I  to 
see  it  gobbled  up  in  a  single  evening  ?  Three  and  a  half  mil- 
lions mortgaged,  in  fact,  to  guarantee  eleven  hundred  thou- 
sand francs  of  her  portion,  which  these  two  women  will  make 
him  throw  away." 

As  he  thus  discerned  in  Madame  Evangelista's  soul  a  scheme 
which  was  not  dishonest  or  criminal — which  was  not  thieving, 
or  cheating,  or  swindling — which  was  not  based  on  any  evil 
or  blamable  feeling,  but  yet  contained  the  germ  of  every 
crime,  Maitre  Mathias  was  neither  shocked  nor  generously 
indignant.  He  was  not  a  misanthrope  ;  he  was  an  old  lawyer, 
inured  by  his  business  to  the  keen  self-interest  of  men  of  the 
world,  to  their  ingenious  treachery,  more  deadly  than  a  bold 
highway  murder  committed  by  some  poor  devil  who  is  guil- 
lotined with  due  solemnity.  In  the  higher  ranks  these  passages 
of  arms,  these  diplomatic  discussions,  are  like  the  little  dark 
corners  into  which  every  kind  of  filth  is  shot. 

Maitre  Mathias,  very  sorry  for  his  client,  cast  a  long  look 
into  the  future,  and  saw  no  hope  of  good. 

"Well,  we  must  take  the  field  with  the  same  weapons," 
said  he  to  himself,  "and  beat  them  on  their  own  ground." 

At  this  juncture  Paul,  Solonet,  and  Madame  Evangelista, 
dismayed  by  the  old  man's  silence,  were  feeling  the  necessity 
of  this  stern  censor's  approbation  to  sanction  these  arrange- 
ments, and  all  three  looked  at  him. 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  367 

"  Well,  my  dear  sir,  and  what  do  you  think  of  this  ?  "  asked 
Paul. 

"This  is  what  I  think,"  replied  the  uncompromising  and 
conscientious  old  man,  "you  are  not  rich  enough  to  commit 
such  princely  follies.  The  estate  of  Lanstrac,  valued  at  three 
per  cent.,  is  worth  one  million  of  francs,  including  the  furni- 
ture ;  the  farms  of  le  Grassol  and  le  Guadet,  with  the  vine- 
yards of  Bellerose,  are  worth  another  million ;  your  two 
residences  and  furniture  a  third  million.  To  meet  these  three 
millions,  yielding  an  income  of  forty-seven  thousand  two 
hundred  francs,  Mademoiselle  Natalie  shows  eight  hundred 
thousand  francs  in  the  Funds,  and  let  us  say  one  hundred  thou- 
sand francs'  worth  of  diamonds — at  a  hypothetical  valuation  ! 
Also,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  in  cash — one 
million  and  fifty  thousand  francs  in  all.  Then,  in  the  face  of 
these  facts,  my  friend  here  triumphantly  asserts  that  we  are 
uniting  equal  fortunes  !  He  requires  us  to  stand  indebted  in 
a  hundred  thousand  francs  to  our  children,  since  we  are  to 
give  the  lady  a  discharge  in  full,  by  taking  the  guardian's 
accounts  as  passed,  for  a  sum  of  eleven  hundred  and  fifty-six 
thousand  francs,  while  receiving  only  one  million  and  fifty 
thousand  ! 

"You  can  listen  to  this  nonsense  with  a  lover's  rapture; 
and  do  you  suppose  that  old  Mathias,  who  is  not  in  love,  will 
forget  his  arithmetic  and  fail  to  appreciate  the  difference 
between  landed  estate  of  enormous  value  as  capital,  and  of 
increasing  value,  and  the  income  derivable  from  money  in 
securities  which  are  liable  to  fluctuations  in  value  and  diminu- 
tion of  interest  ?  I  am  old  enough  to  have  seen  land  improve 
and  funds  fall.  You  called  me  in,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  to 
stipulate  for  your  interests  ;  allow  me  to  protect  them  or  dis- 
miss me." 

"  If  monsieur  looks  for  a  fortune  of  which  the  capital  is  a 
match  for  his  own,"  said  Solonet,  "we  have  nothing  like 
three  millions  and  a  half;  that  is  self-evident.  If  you  can 


368  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

show  these  overpowering  millions,  we  have  but  our  one  poor 
little  million  to  offer — a  mere  trifle !  three  times  as  much  as 
the  dower  of  an  archduchess  of  Austria.  Bonaparte  received 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  when  he  married  Marie 
Louise." 

"Marie  Louise  ruined  Napoleon,"  said  Maitre  Mathias  in 
a  growl. 

Natalie's  mother  understood  the  bearing  of  this  speech. 

"If  my  sacrifices  are  in  vain, "she  exclaimed,  "I  decline 
to  carry  such  a  discussion  any  further ;  I  trust  to  the  count's 
discretion,  and  renounce  the  honor  of  his  proposals  for  my 
daughter." 

After  the  manoeuvres  planned  by  the  young  notary  this 
battle  of  conflicting  interests  had  reached  the  point  where  the 
victory  ought  to  have  rested  with  Madame  Evangelista.  The 
mother-in-law  had  opened  her  heart,  abandoned  her  posses- 
sions, and  was  almost  released.  The  intending  husband  was 
bound  to  accept  the  conditions  laid  down  beforehand  by  the 
collusion  of  Maitre  Solonet  and  his  client,  or  sin  against  every 
law  of  generosity,  and  be  false  to  his  love. 

Like  the  hand  of  a  clock  moved  by  the  works,  Paul  came 
duly  to  the  point. 

"What,  madame,"  cried  he,  "you  could  undo  in  one  mo- 
ment  " 

"Why,  monsieur,  to  whom  do  I  owe  my  duty?  To  my 
daughter.  When  she  is  one-and-twenty  she  will  pass  my 
accounts  and  release  me.  She  will  have  a  million  francs,  and 
can,  if  she  pleases,  choose  among  the  sons  of  the  peers  of 
France.  Is  she  not  the  daughter  of  a  Casa-Real  ?  " 

"  Madame  is  quite  justified.  Why  should  she  be  worse  off 
to-day  than  she  will  be  fourteen  months  hence  ?  Do  not  rob 
her  of  the  benefits  of  her  position,"  said  Solonet. 

"Mathias,"  said  Paul,  with  deep  grief,  "there  are  two 
ways  of  being  ruined — and  at  this  moment  you  have  undone 
me!" 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  369 

He  went  toward  the  old  lawyer,  no  doubt  intending  to 
order  that  the  contract  should  be  at  once  drawn  up.  Mathias 
forefended  this  disaster  by  a  glance  which  seemed  to  say, 
"Wait!"  He  saw  tears  in  Paul's  eyes — tears  of  shame  at 
the  tenor  of  this  debate,  and  at  the  peremptory  tone  in  which 
Madame  Evangelista  had  thrown  him  over — and  he  checked 
them  by  a  start,  the  start  of  Archimedes,  successful  in  his 
search,  crying  EUREKA  ! 

The  words  "  Peer  of  France  "  had  flashed  light  on  his  mind 
like  a  torch  in  a  cavern. 

At  this  instant  Natalie  reappeared,  as  lovely  as  the  dawn, 
and  said  with  an  innocent  air : 

"Am  I  in  the  way?" 

"  Strangely  in  the  way,  my  child  !  "  replied  her  mother, 
with  cruel  bitterness. 

"  Come,  dear  Natalie,"  said  Paul,  taking  her  hand  and 
leading  her  to  a  chair  by  the  fire,  "everything  is  settled  !  " 
for  he  could  not  endure  to  think  that  his  hopes  were  over- 
thrown. 

And  Mathias  eagerly  put  in : 

"Yes,  everything  can  yet  be  settled." 

Like  a  general  who  in  one  move  baffles  the  tactics  of  the 
enemy,  the  old  lawyer  had  had  a  vision  of  the  Genius  that 
watches  over  notaries,  unfolding  before  him  in  legal  script  a 
conception  that  might  save  the  future  prospects  of  Paul  and 
of  his  children.  Maitre  Solonet  knew  of  no  other  issue  from 
these  irreconcilable  difficulties  than  the  determination  to  which 
the  young  count  had  been  led  by  love,  and  by  this  storm  of 
contending  feelings  and  interests ;  so  he  was  excessively  sur- 
prised by  his  senior's  remark. 

Curious  to  know  what  remedy  Maitre  Mathias  had  to  sug- 
gest for  a  state  of  things  which  must  have  seemed  to  him  past 
all  hope,  he  asked  him  : 

"What  have  you  to  propose?" 
24 


370  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

"Natalie,  my  dear  child,  leave  us,"  said  Madame  Evan- 
gelista. 

"Mademoiselle  is  not  de  trop"  replied  Maitre  Mathias, 
with  a  smile.  "I  speak  as  much  for  her  as  for  Monsieur  le 
Comte." 

There  was  a  solemn  silence,  each  one  in  great  excitement 
awaiting  the  old  man's  speech  with  the  utmost  curiosity. 

"  In  our  day,"  Mathias  went  on  after  a  pause,  "  the  notary's 
profession  has  changed  in  many  ways.  In  our  day  political 
revolutions  affect  the  future  prospects  of  families,  and  this  used 
not  to  be  the  case.  Formerly  life  ran  in  fixed  grooves,  ranks 
were  clearly  defined " 

"We  are  not  here  to  listen  to  a  lecture  on  political  economy, 
but  to  arrange  a  marriage-contract,"  said  Solonet,  with  a  flip- 
pant impatience,  and  interrupting  the  old  man. 

"  I  beg  you  to  allow  me  to  speak  in  my  turn,"  said 
Mathias. 

Solonet  took  his  seat  on  the  ottoman,  saying  to  Madame 
Evangelista  in  an  undertone — 

"  Now  you  will  learn  what  we  lawyers  mean  by  rigma- 
role." 

"  Notaries  are  consequently  obliged  to  watch  the  course  of 
politics,  since  they  now  are  intimately  concerned  with  private 
affairs.  To  give  you  an  instance :  Formerly  noble  families 
had  inalienable  fortunes,  but  the  Revolution  overthrew  them  ; 
the  present  system  tends  to  reconstructing  such  fortunes," 
said  the  old  man,  indulging  somewhat  in  the  twaddle  of  the 
tabellionaris  boa  constrictor.  "Now,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  in 
virtue  of  his  name,  his  talents,  and  his  wealth,  is  evidently 
destined  to  sit  some  day  in  the  lower  Chamber  ;  destiny  may 
perhaps  lead  him  to  the  upper  and  hereditary  Chamber ;  and, 
as  we  know,  he  has  every  qualification  that  may  justify  our 
prognostics".  Are  you  not  of  my  opinion,  madame?"  said  he 
to  the  widow. 

"You    have    anticipated    my   dearest    hope,"    said    she. 


A    MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  371 

"  Manerville  must    be  a   peer  of  France,  or    I  shall  die  of 
grief." 

"All  that  may  tend  to  that  end ?  "  said  Maitre  Mathias, 

appealing  to  the  mother-in-law  with  a  look  of  frank  good- 
humor. 

"Answers  to  my  dearest  wish,"  she  put  in. 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Mathias,  "  is  not  this  marriage  a  fitting 
opportunity  for  creating  an  entail  ?  Such  a  foundation  will 
most  certainly  be  an  argument  in  the  eyes  of  the  present  gov- 
ernment for  the  nomination  of  my  client  when  a  batch  of 
peers  is  created.  Monsieur  le  Comte  will,  of  course,  dedicate 
to  this  purpose  the  estate  of  Lanstrac,  worth  about  a  million. 
I  do  not  ask  that  mademoiselle  should  contribute  an  equal 
sum ;  that  would  not  be  fair ;  but  we  may  take  eight  hundred 
thousand  francs  of  her  money  for  the  purpose.  I  know  of  two 
estates  for  sale  at  this  moment,  bordering  on  the  lands  of  Lan- 
strac, in  which  those  eight  hundred  thousand  francs,  to  be 
sunk  in  real  estate,  may  be  invested  at  four  and  a  half  percent. 
The  Paris  house  ought  also  to  be  included  in  the  entail.  The 
surplus  of  the  two  fortunes,  wisely  managed,  will  amply  suffice 
to  provide  for  the  younger  children.  If  the  contracting  par- 
ties can  agree  as  to  these  details,  Monsieur  de  Manerville  may 
then  pass  your  guardian's  accounts  and  be  chargeable  for  the 
balance.  I  will  consent." 

"Questa  coda  non  e  di  qucsto  gatto  !  "  (this  tail  does  not  fit 
that  cat)  exclaimed  Madame  Evangelista,  looking  at  her 
sponsor,  Solonet,  and  pointing  to  Maitre  Mathias. 

"There  is  something  behind  all  this,"  said  Solonet  in  an 
undertone. 

"And  what  is  all  this  muddle  for?  "  Paul  asked  of  Mathias, 
going  with  him  into  the  adjoining  room. 

"To  save  you  from  ruin,"  said  the  old  notary  in  a  whisper. 
"  You  are  quite  bent  on  marrying  a  girl — and  her  mother — 
who  have  made  away  with  two  millions  of  francs  in  seven 
years ;  you  are  accepting  a  debt  of  more  than  a  hundred  thou- 


372  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

sand  francs  to  your  children,  to  whom  you  will  some  day  have 
to  hand  over  eleven  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand  francs  on 
their  mother's  behalf,  when  you  are  receiving  hardly  a  million. 
You  run  the  risk  of  seeing  your  whole  fortune  melt  away  in 
five  years,  leaving  you  as  bare  as  St.  John  the  Baptist,  while 
you  will  remain  the  debtor  in  enormous  sums  to  your  wife  and 
her  representatives.  If  you  choose  to  embark  in  that  boat,  go 
on,  Monsieur  le  Comte ;  but  at  least  allow  your  old  friend  to 
save  the  house  of  Manerville." 

"  But  how  will  this  save  it?  "  asked  Paul. 

"  Listen,  Monsieur  le  Comte ;  you  are  very  much  in  love  ?  " 

"Yes,"  replied  Paul. 

"A  man  in  love  is  about  as  secret  as  a  cannon-shot;  I  will 
tell  you  nothing  !  If  you  were  to  repeat  things,  your  mar- 
riage might  come  to  nothing,  so  I  place  your  love  under  the 
protection  of  my  silence.  You  trust  to  my  fidelity?  " 

"What  a  question  !  " 

"Well,  then,  let  me  tell  you  that  Madame  Evangelista, 
her  notary,  and  her  daughter  were  playing  a  trick  on  us  all 
through,  and  are  more  than  clever.  By  heaven,  what  sharp 
practice !  " 

"Natalie?"  cried  Paul. 

"  Well,  I  will  not  swear  to  that,"  said  the  old  man.  "  You 
want  her — take  her !  But  I  wish  this  marriage  might  fall 
through  without  the  smallest  blame  to  you  !  " 

"Why?" 

"That  girl  would  beggar  Peru.  Beside,  she  rides  like  a 
circus-rider ;  she  is  what  you  may  call  emancipated.  Women 
of  that  sort  make  bad  wives." 

Paul  pressed  his  old  friend's  hand  and  replied  with  a  little 
fatuous  smile. 

"  Don't  be  alarmed.  And  for  the  moment,  what  must 
I  do?" 

"  Stand  firm  to  these  conditions ;  they  will  consent,  for  the 
bargain  does  not  damage  their  interests.  And  beside,  all 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  373 

Madame  Evangelista  wants  is  to  get  her  daughter  married ;  I 
have  seen  her  hand;  do  not  trust  her." 

Paul  returned  to  the  drawing-room,  where  he  found  the 
widow  talking  in  low  tones  to  Solonet,  just  as  he  had  been 
talking  to  Mathias.  Natalie,  left  out  of  this  mysterious  con- 
ference, was  playing  with  a  screen.  Somewhat  out  of  coun- 
tenance, she  was  wondering  :  "  What  absurdity  keeps  me  from 
all  knowledge  of  my  own  concerns?" 

The  younger  lawyer  was  taking  in  the  general  outlines  and 
remote  effects  of  a  stipulation  based  on  the  personal  pride  of 
the  parties  concerned,  into  which  his  client  had  blindly  rushed. 
But  though  Mathias  was  now  nothing  else  but  a  notary,  Solo- 
net  was  still  to  some  degree  a  man,  and  carried  some  juvenile 
conceit  into  his  dealings.  It  often  happens  that  personal 
vanity  makes  a  young  lawyer  forgetful  of  his  client's  interests. 
Under  these  circumstances,  Maitre  Solonet,  who  would  not 
allow  the  widow  to  think  that  Nestor  was  beating  Achilles, 
was  advising  her  to  conclude  the  matter  at  once  on  these  lines. 
Little  did  he  care  for  the  ultimate  fulfillment  of  the  contract ; 
to  him  victory  meant  the  release  of  Madame  Evangelista  with 
an  assured  income,  and  the  marriage  of  Natalie. 

"  All  Bordeaux  will  know  that  you  have  settled  about  eleven 
hundred  thousand  francs  on  your  daughter,  and  that  you  still 
have  twenty-five  thousand  francs  a  year,"  said  Solonet  in  the 
lady's  ear.  "  I  had  not  hoped  for  such  a  brilliant  result." 

"But,"  said  she,  "explain  to  me  why  the  creation  of  an 
entail  should  so  immediately  have  stilled  the  storm." 

"Distrust  of  you  and  your  daughter.  An  entailed  estate  is 
inalienable  :  neither  husband  nor  wife  can  touch  it." 

"That  is  a  positive  insult." 

"  Oh,  no.  We  call  that  foresight.  The  good  man  caught 
you  in  a  snare.  If  you  refuse  the  entail,  he  will  say :  '  Then 
you  want  to  squander  my  client's  fortune ; '  whereas,  if  he 
creates  an  entail,  it  is  out  of  all  risk,  just  as  if  the  couple  were 
married  under  the  provisions  of  the  trust." 


374  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

Solonet  silenced  his  own  scruples  by  reflecting — 

"These  stipulations  will  only  take  effect  in  the  remote 
future,  and  by  that  time  Madame  Evangelista  will  be  dead 
and  buried." 

She,  for  her  part,  was  satisfied  with  Solonet's  explanation ; 
she  had  entire  confidence  in  him.  She  was  perfectly  ignorant 
of  the  law ;  she  saw  her  daughter  married,  and  that  was  all 
she  asked  for  the  nonce ;  she  was  delighted  at  their  success. 
And  so,  as  Mathias  suspected,  neither  Solonet  nor  Madame 
Evangelista  as  yet  understood  the  full  extent  of  his  plan, 
which  had  incontrovertible  reasons  to  support  it. 

"Well,  then,  Monsieur  Mathias,"  said  the  widow,  "every- 
thing is  satisfactory." 

"  Madame,  if  you  and  Monsieur  le  Comte  agree  to  these 
conditions,  you  should  exchange  pledges.  It  is  fully  under- 
stood by  you  both,  is  it  not,"  he  went  on,  "  that  the  marriage 
takes  place  only  on  condition  of  the  creation  of  an  entail, 
including  the  estate  of  Lanstrac  and  the  house  in  the  Rue  de 
la  Pepiniere,  both  belonging  to  the  intending  husband;  item  : 
eight  hundred  thousand  francs  deducted  in  money  from  the 
portion  of  the  intending  wife  to  be  invested  in  land  ?  Forgive 
me,  madame,  for  repeating  this ;  a  solemn  and  positive  pledge 
is  necessary  in  such  a  case.  The  formation  of  an  entail  re- 
quires many  formalities — it  must  be  registered  in  Chancery 
and  receive  the  royal  signature ;  and  we  ought  to  proceed  at 
once  to  the  purchase  of  the  lands,  so  as  to  include  them  in  the 
schedule  of  property  which  the  royal  patent  renders  inalien- 
able. In  many  families  a  document  would  be  required  ;  but, 
as  between  you,  verbal  consent  will  no  doubt  be  sufficient. 
Do  you  both  consent?" 

"Yes,"  said  Madame  Evangelista. 

"Yes,"  said  Paul. 

"And  how  about  me?"  asked  Natalie,  laughing. 

"You,  mademoiselle,  are  a  minor,"  replied  Solonet,  "and 
that  need  not  distress  you  ! " 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  375 

It  was  then  agreed  that  Maitre  Mathias  should  draw  up  the 
contract,  and  Maitre  Solonet  audit  the  guardian's  accounts, 
and  that  all  the  papers  should  be  signed,  in  agreement  with 
the  law,  a  day  or  two  before  the  wedding. 

After  a  few  civilities  the  lawyers  rose. 

"It  is  raining,  Mathias;  shall  I  take  you  home?  I  have 
my  cab  here,"  said  Solonet. 

"My  carriage  is  at  your  service,"  said  Paul,  preparing  to 
accompany  the  good  man. 

"I  will  not  rob  you  of  a  minute,"  said  the  old  man;  "I 
will  accept  my  friend's  offer." 

"  Well,"  said  Achilles  to  Nestor,  as  the  carriage  rolled  on  its 
way,  "  you  have  been  truly  patriarchal.  Those  young  people 
would,  no  doubt,  have  ruined  themselves." 

"I  was  uneasy  about  the  future,"  said  Mathias,  not  betray- 
ing the  real  motive  of  his  proposal. 

At  this  moment  the  two  lawyers  were  like  two  actors  who 
shake  hands  behind  the  scenes  after  playing  on  the  stage  a 
scene  of  hatred  and  provocation. 

"  But  is  it  not  my  business,"  said  Solonet,  who  was  think- 
ing of  technicalities,  "to  purchase  the  lands  of  which  you 
speak  ?  Is  it  not  our  money  that  is  to  be  invested  ?  " 

"  How  can  you  include  Mademoiselle  Evangelista's  land 
in  an  entail  created  by  the  Comte  de  Manerville?"  asked 
Mathias. 

"That  difficulty  can  be  settled  in  Chancery,"  said  Solonet. 

"But  I  am  the  seller's  notary  as  well  as  the  buyer's," 
replied  Mathias.  "  Beside,  Monsieur  de  Manerville  can  pur- 
chase in  his  own  name.  When  it  comes  to  paying,  we  can 
state  the  use  of  the  wife's  portion." 

"You  have  an  answer  for  everything,  my  worthy  senior," 
said  Solonet,  laughing.  "You  have  been  grand  this  evening, 
and  you  have  beaten  us." 

"Well,  for  an  old  fellow  unprepared  for  your  batteries 
loaded  with  grape-shot,  it  was  not  so  bad,  eh?" 


376  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"Ah,  ha!  "  laughed  Solonst. 

The  odious  contest  in  which  the  happiness  of  a  family  had 
been  so  narrowly  risked  was  to  them  no  more  than  a  matter 
of  legal  polemics.  "We  have  not  gone  through  forty  years 
of  chicanery  for  nothing,"  said  Mathias.  "Solonet,"  he 
added,  "I  am  a  good-natured  fellow;  you  may  be  present  at 
the  sale  and  purchase  of  the  lands  to  be  added  to  the  estate." 

"Thank  you,  my  good  friend  !  You  will  find  me  at  your 
service  in  case  of  need." 

While  the  two  notaries  were  thus  peaceably  going  on  their 
way,  with  no  emotion  beyond  a  little  dryness  of  the  throat, 
Paul  and  Madame  Evangelista  were  suffering  from  the  nervous 
trepidation,  the  fluttering  about  the  heart,  the  spasm  of  brain 
and  spine,  to  which  persons  of  strong  passions  are  prone  after 
a  scene  when  their  interests  or  their  feelings  have  been  severely 
attacked.  In  Madame  Evangelista  these  mutterings  of  the 
dispersing  storm  were  aggravated  by  a  terrible  thought,  a  lurid 
gleam  that  needed  explanation. 

"  Has  not  Maitre  Mathias  overthrown  my  six  months' 
labors?"  she  wondered.  "Has  he  not  destroyed  my  influ- 
ence over  Paul  by  filling  him  with  base  suspicions  during  their 
conference  in  the  inner  room  ?  " 

She  stood  in  front  of  the  fireplace,  her  elbow  resting  on  the 
corner  of  the  mantelpiece,  lost  in  thought. 

When  the  outer  gate  closed  behind  the  notary's  carriage, 
she  turned  to  her  son-in-law,  eager  to  settle  her  doubts. 

"This  has  been  the  most  terrible  day  of  my  life,"  cried 
Paul,  really  glad  to  see  the  end  of  all  these  difficulties.  "  I 
know  no  tougher  customer  than  old  Mathias.  God  grant  his 
wishes  and  make  me  peer  of  France  !  Dear  Natalie,  I  desire 
it  more  for  your  sake  than  for  my  own.  You  are  my  sole 
ambition.  I  live  in  and  for  you." 

On  hearing  these  words  spoken  from  the  heart,  and  espe- 
cially as  she  looked  into  Paul's  clear  eyes,  whose  look  was  as 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  377 

free  from  any  concealment  as  his  open  brow,  Madame  Evan- 
gelista's  joy  was  complete.  She  blamed  herself  for  the  some- 
what sharp  terms  in  which  she  had  tried  to  spur  her  son-in- 
law,  and  in  the  triumph  of  success  determined  to  make  all 
smooth  for  the  future.  Her  face  was  calm  again,  and  her 
eyes  expressed  the  sweet  friendliness  that  made  her  so  attrac- 
tive as  she  replied — 

"  I  may  truly  say  the  same.  And  perhaps,  my  dear  boy, 
my  Spanish  temper  carried  me  further  than  my  heart  intended. 
Be  always  what  you  are — as  good  as  gold  !  And  owe  me  no 
grudge  for  a  few  ill-considered  words.  Give  me  your  hand, 
let " 

Paul  was  overwhelmed ;  he  blamed  himself  in  a  thousand 
things,  and  embraced  Madame  Evangelista. 

"  Dear  Paul,"  said  she  with  emotion,  "  why  could  not  those 
two  scriveners  arrange  matters  without  us,  since  it  has  all 
come  right  in  the  end  ?  " 

"But  then,"  said  Paul,  "I  should  not  have  known  how 
noble  and  generous  you  could  be." 

"Well  said,  Paul  !  "  cried  Natalie,  taking  his  hand. 

"  We  have  several  little  matters  to  settle  yet,  my  dear  boy," 
said  Madame  Evangelista.  "  My  daughter  and  I  are  superior 
to  the  follies  of  which  some  people  think  so  much.  For  in- 
stance, Natalie  will  need  no  diamonds — I  give  her  mine." 

"  Oh  !  my  dear  mother,  do  you  suppose  I  should  accept 
them  ?  "  cried  Natalie. 

"Yes,  my  child,  they  are  a  condition  of  the  contract." 

"  I  will  not  have  them  !  I  will  never  marry  !  "  said  Natalie 
vehemently.  "  Keep  what  my  father  gave  you  with  so  much 
pleasure.  How  can  Monsieur  Paul  demand ?" 

"Be  silent,  dear  child,"  said  her  mother,  her  eyes  filling 
with  tears ;  "  my  ignorance  of  business  requires  far  more  than 
that." 

"What?" 

"  I  must  sell  this  house  to  pay  you  what  I  owe  you." 


373  A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"What  can  you  owe  to  me,"  said  the  girl — "  to  me,  who 
owe  my  life  to  you  ?  Can  I  ever  repay  you  ?  On  the  contrary, 
if  my  marriage  is  to  cost  you  the  smallest  sacrifice,  I  will  never 
marry !  " 

"You  are  but  a  child  !" 

"  My  dear  Natalie,"  said  Paul,  "  you  must  understand  that 
it  is  neither  I,  nor  you,  nor  your  mother  who  insists  on  these 
sacrifices,  but  the  children " 

"But  if  I  do  not  marry,"  she  interrupted. 

"  Then  you  do  not  love  me  ?  "  said  Paul. 

"Come,  silly  child,"  said  her  mother;  "do  you  suppose 
that  a  marriage-contract  is  a  house  of  cards  to  be  blown  down 
at  your  pleasure  ?  Poor  ignorant  darling,  you  do  not  know 
what  trouble  we  have  been  at  to  create  an  entailed  estate  for 
your  eldest  son.  Do  not  throw  us  back  into  the  troubles 
from  which  we  have  escaped." 

"But  why  ruin  my  mother?"  said  Natalie  to  Paul. 

"  Why  are  you  so  rich  ?  "  he  said,  with  a  smile. 

"Do  not  discuss  the  matter  too  far,  my  children  ;  you  are 
not  married  yet,"  said  Madame  Evangelista.  "Paul,"  she 
went  on,  "Natalie  needs  no  wedding-gifts,  no  jewels,  no 
trousseau ;  she  has  everything  in  profusion.  Save  the  money 
you  would  have  spent  in  presents  to  secure  to  yourselves  some 
permanent  home  luxuries.  There  is  nothing  to  my  mind  so 
foolishly  vulgar  as  the  expenditure  of  a  hundred  thousand 
francs  in  a  corbeille,*  of  which  nothing  is  left  at  last  but  an 
pld  white  satin-covered  trunk.  Five  thousand  francs  a  year, 
on  the  other  hand,  as  pin-money,  save  a  young  wife  many 
small  cares,  and  are  hers  for  life.  And  indeed  you  will  want 
the  money  of  the  corbeille  to  refurnish  your  house  in  Paris 
this  winter.  We  will  come  back  to  Lanstrac  in  the  spring ; 
Solonet  will  have  settled  all  our  affairs  in  the  course  of  the 
winter." 

*  The  bridegroom's  presents  of  lace,  jewels,  and  apparel  constitute  the 
corbeille  or  "  basket." 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  379 

"  Then  all  is^r/ell,"  said  Paul,  at  the  height  of  happiness. 

''And  I  shall  see  Paris!"  cried  Natalie,  in  a  tone  that 
might  indeed  have  alarmed  a  de  Marsay. 

"If  that  is  quite  settled,  I  will  write  to  de  Marsay  to 
secure  a  box  for  the  winter  season  at  the  Italian  opera." 

"You  are  most  nice!  I  dared  not  ask  it  of  you,"  said 
Natalie.  "  Marriage  is  a  delightful  institution  if  it  gives  hus- 
bands the  power  of  guessing  their  wives'  wishes." 

"That  is  precisely  what  it  is,"  said  Paul.  "But  it  is  mid- 
night— I  must  go." 

"Why  so  early  this  evening?  "  said  Madame  Evangelista, 
who  was  lavish  of  the  attentions  to  which  men  are  so  keenly 
alive. 

Though  the  whole  business  had  been  conducted  on  terms 
of  the  most  refined  politeness,  the  effect  of  this  clashing  of 
interests  had  sown  a  germ  of  distrust  and  hostility  between 
the  lady  and  her  son-in-law,  ready  to  develop  at  the  first 
spark  of  anger,  or  under  the  heat  of  a  too  strong  display  of 
feeling. 

In  most  families  the  question  of  settlements  and  allowances 
under  the  marriage-contract  is  prone  to  give  rise  to  these 
primitive  conflicts,  stirred  up  by  wounded  pride  or  injured 
feelings,  by  some  reluctance  to  make  any  sacrifice,  or  the  de- 
sire to  minimize  it.  When  a  difficulty  arises,  must  there  not 
be  a  conqueror  and  a  conquered  ?  The  parents  of  the  plighted 
couple  try  to  bring  the  affair  to  a  happy  issue ;  in  their  eyes  it 
is  a  purely  commercial  transaction,  allowing  all  the  tricks,  the 
profits,  and  the  deceptions  of  trade.  As  a  rule,  the  husband 
only  is  initiated  into  the  secret  of  the  transaction,  and  the 
young  wife  remains,  as  did  Natalie,  ignorant  of  the  stipula- 
tions which  make  her  rich  or  poor. 

Paul,  as  he  went  home,  reflected  that,  thanks  to  his  lawyer's 
ingenuity,  his  fortune  was  almost  certainly  secured  against 
ruin.  If  Madame  Evangelista  lived  with  her  daughter,  the 
household  would  have  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  francs 


380  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

a.  year  for  ordinary  expenses.  Thus  his  hopes  of  a  happy  life 
would  be  realized. 

"  My  mother-in-law  seems  to  me  a  very  good  sort  of 
woman,"  he  reflected,  still  under  the  influence  of  the  wheed- 
ling ways  by  which  Madame  Evangelista  had  succeeded  in 
dissipating  the  clouds  raised  by  the  discussion.  "Mathias  is 
mistaken.  These  lawyers  are  strange  beings;  they  poison 
everything.  The  mischief  was  made  by  that  contentious  little 
Solonet,  who  wanted  to  be  clever." 

While  Paul,  as  he  went  to  bed,  was  recapitulating  the  ad- 
vantages he  had  won  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  Madame 
Evangelista  was  no  less  confident  of  having  gained  the  victory. 

"Well,  darling  mother,  are  you  satisfied?"  said  Natalie, 
following  her  mother  into  her  bedroom. 

"  Yes,  my  love,  everything  has  succeeded  as  I  wished,  and 
I  feel  a  weight  taken  off  my  shoulders,  which  crushed  me  this 
morning.  Paul  is  really  an  excellent  fellow.  Dear  boy ! 
Yes,  we  can  certainly  give  him  a  delightful  life.  You  will 
make  him  happy,  and  I  will  take  care  of  his  political  pros- 
pects. The  Spanish  ambassador  is  an  old  friend  of  mine.  I 
will  renew  my  acquaintance  with  him  and  with  several  other 
persons.  We  shall  soon  be  in  the  heart  of  politics,  and  all 
will  be  well  with  us.  The  pleasure  for  you,  dear  children ; 
for  me  the  later  and  more  serious  occupations  of  life — the 
game  of  ambition. 

"  Do  not  be  alarmed  at  my  selling  this  house  ;  do  you  sup- 
pose we  should  ever  return  to  Bordeaux?  To  Lanstrac — yes. 
But  we  shall  spend  every  winter  in  Paris,  where  our  true  in- 
terests now  lie.  Well,  Natalie,  was  what  I  asked  you  so  diffi- 
cult to  do?" 

"  My  dear  mother,  I  was  ashamed  at  moments." 

"  Solonet  advises  me  to  buy  an  annuity  with  the  price  of 
the  house,"  said  Madame  Evangelista,  "but  I  must  make 
some  other  arrangement.  I  will  not  deprive  you  of  one  sou 
of  my  capital." 


A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  381 

"You  were  al!  very  angry,  I  saw,"  said  Natalie.  "How 
was  the  storm  appeased?" 

"By  the  offer  of  my  diamonds,"  replied  her  mother. 
"Solonet  was  in  the  right.  How  cleverly  he  managed  the 
business  !  But  fetch  my  jewel-box,  Natalie.  I  never  seriously 
inquired  what  those  diamonds  were  worth.  When  I  said  a 
hundred  thousand  francs,  it  was  absurd.  Did  not  Madame 
de  Gyas  declare  that  the  necklace  and  earrings  your  father 
gave  me  on  the  day  of  our  wedding  were  alone  worth  as  much  ? 
My  poor  husband  was  so  lavish !  And  then  the  family 
diamond  given  by  Philip  II.  to  the  Duke  of  Alva,  and  left  to 
me  by  my  aunt — the  Discrete — was,  I  believe,  valued  then  at 
four  thousand  quadruples." 

Natalie  brought  out  and  laid  on  her  mother's  dressing-table 
pearl  necklaces,  sets  of  jewels,  gold  bracelets,  gems  of  every 
kind,  piling  them  up  with  the  inexpressible  satisfaction  that 
rejoices  the  heart  of  some  women  at  the  sight  of  these  valu- 
ables, with  which,  according  to  the  Talmud,  the  fallen  angels 
tempted  the  daughters  of  men,  bringing  up  from  the  bowels 
of  the  earth  these  blossoms  of  celestial  fires. 

"Certainly,"  said  Madame  Evangelista,  "  although  I  know 
nothing  of  precious  stones  but  how  to  accept  them  and  wear 
them,  it  seems  to  me  that  these  must  be  worth  a  great  deal  of 
money.  And  then,  if  we  all  live  together,  I  can  sell  my  plate, 
which  is  worth  thirty  thousand  francs  at  the  mere  value  of  the 
silver.  I  remember  when  we  brought  it  from  Lima  that  was 
the  valuation  at  the  Custom  House  here.  Solonet  is  right. 
I  will  send  for  Elie  Magus.  The  Jew  will  tell  me  the  value  of 
these  stones.  I  may  perhaps  escape  sinking  the  rest  of  my 
capital  in  an  annuity." 

"What  a  beautiful  string  of  pearls?"  said  Natalie,  admir- 
ingly. 

"  I  hope  he  will  give  you  that  if  he  loves  you.  Indeed,  he 
ought  to  have  all  the  stones  reset  and  make  them  a  present  to 
you.  The  diamonds  are  yours  by  settlement.  Well,  good- 


382  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

night,  my  darling.  After  such  a  fatiguing  day,  we  both  need 
sleep." 

The  woman  of  fashion,  the  creole,  the  fine  lady,  incapable 
of  understanding  the  conditions  of  a  contract  that  was  not 
yet  drawn  up,  fell  asleep  in  full  content  at  seeing  her  daughter 
the  wife  of  a  man  she  could  so  easily  manage,  who  would 
leave  them  to  be  on  equal  terms  the  mistresses  of  his  house, 
and  whose  fortune,  combined  with  their  own,  would  allow  of 
their  living  in  the  way  to  which  they  were  accustomed.  Even 
after  paying  up  her  daughter,  for  whose  whole  fortune  she  was 
to  receive  a  discharge,  Madame  Evangelista  would  still  have 
enough  to  live  upon. 

"  How  absurd  I  was  to  be  so  worried  !  "  said  she  to  her- 
self. "  I  wish  the  marriage  was  over  and  done  with." 

So  Madame  Evangelista,  Paul,  Natalie,  and  the  two  lawyers 
were  all  delighted  with  the  results  of  this  first  meeting.  The 
Te  Deum  was  sung  in  both  camps — a  perilous  state  of  things  ! 
The  moment  must  come  when  the  vanquished  would  no  longer 
be  deluded.  To  Madame  Evangelista  her  son-in-law  was 
conquered. 

Next  morning  Elie  Magus  came  to  the  widow's  house,  sup- 
posing, from  the  rumors  current  as  to  Mademoiselle  Natalie's 
approaching  marriage  to  Count  Paul,  that  they  wanted  to 
purchase  diamonds.  What,  then,  was  his  surprise  on  learning 
that  he  was  wanted  to  make  a  more  or  less  official  valuation 
of  the  mother-in-law's  jewels.  The  Jewish  instinct,  added  to 
a  few  insidious  questions,  led  him  to  conclude  that  the  value 
was  to  be  included  in  the  property  under  the  marriage- 
contract. 

As  the  stones  were  not  for  sale,  he  priced  them  as  a  mer- 
chant selling  to  a  private  purchaser.  Experts  alone  know 
Indian  diamonds  from  those  of  Brazil.  The  stones  from 
Golconda  and  Vizapur  are  distinguishable  by  a  whiteness  and 
clear  brilliancy  which  the  others  have  not,  their  hue  being 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  383 

yellower,  and  this  depreciates  their  selling  value.  Madame 
Evangelista's  necklace  and  earrings,  being  entirely  composed 
of  Asiatic  stones,  were  valued  by  Elie  Magus  at  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  francs.  As  to  the  Discrete,  it  was,  he  said, 
one  of  the  finest  diamonds  extant  in  .private  hands,  and  was 
worth  a  hundred  thousand  francs. 

On  hearing  these  figures,  which  showed  her  how  liberal  her 
husband  had  been,  Madame  Evangelista  asked  whether  she 
could  have  that  sum  at  once." 

"If  you  wish  to  sell  them,  madame,"  said  the  Jew,  "I 
can  only  give  you  seventy  thousand  francs  for  the  single  stone, 
and  a  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  for  the  necklace  and 
earrings." 

"  And  why  such  a  reduction  ?  "  asked  Madame  Evangelista 
in  surprise. 

"Madame,"  said  he,  "  the  finer  the  jewels,  the  longer  we 
have  to  keep  them.  The  opportunities  for  sale  are  rare  in 
proportion  to  the  greater  value  of  the  diamonds.  As  the 
dealer  cannot  afford  to  lose  the  interest  on  his  money,  the 
recoupment  for  that  interest,  added  to  the  risks  of  rise  and 
fall  in  the  market,  accounts  for  the  difference  between  the 
selling  and  purchasing  value.  For  twenty  years  you  have 
been  losing  the  interest  of  three  hundred  thousand  francs. 
If  you  have  worn  your  diamonds  ten  times  a  year,  it  has  cost 
you  a  thousand  crowns  each  time.  How  many  handsome 
dresses  you  might  have  had  for  a  thousand  crowns  !  Persons 
who  keep  their  diamonds  are  fools ;  however,  happily  for  us, 
ladies  do  not  understand  these  calculations." 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  having  explained  them  to 
me;  I  will  profit  by  the  lesson." 

"  Then  you  want  to  sell  ?  "  cried  the  Jew  eagerly. 

"What  are  the  rest  worth?"  said  Madame  Evangelista. 

The  Jew  examined  the  gold  of  the  settings,  held  the  pearls 
to  the  light,  turned  over  the  rubies,  the  tiaras,  brooches,  brace- 
lets, clasps,  and  chains,  and  mumbled  out — 


384  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"  There  are  several  Portuguese  diamonds  brought  from 
Brazil.  I  cannot  give  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  francs 
for  the  lot.  But  sold  to  a  customer,"  he  added,  "  they  would 
fetch  more  than  fifty  thousand  crowns." 

"We  will  keep  them,"  said  the  lady. 

"  You  are  wrong,"  replied  Elie  Magus.  "  With  the  income 
of  the  sum  now  sunk  in  them,  in  five  years  you  could  buy 
others  just  as  fine,  and  still  have  the  capital." 

This  rather  singular  interview  was  soon  known,  and  con- 
firmed the  rumors  to  which  the  discussion  of  the  contract  had 
given  rise.  In  a  provincial  town  everything  is  known.  The 
servants  of  the  house,  having  heard  loud  voices,  supposed  the 
dispute  to  have  been  warmer  than  it  was ;  their  gossip  with 
other  people's  servants  spread  far  and  wide,  and  from  the 
lower  depths  came  up  to  the  masters.  The  attention  of  the 
upper  and  citizen  circles  was  concentrated  on  the  marriage  of 
two  persons  of  equal  wealth.  Everybody,  great  and  small, 
talked  the  matter  over,  and  within  a  week  the  strangest  reports 
were  afloat  in  Bordeaux.  Madame  Evangelista  was  selling 
her  house,  so  she  must  be  ruined.  She  had  offered  her  dia- 
monds to  Elie  Magus.  Nothing  was  yet  final  between  her 
and  the  Comte  de  Manerville.  Would  the  marriage  ever 
come  off?  Some  said  Yes;  others  said  No.  The  two  law- 
yers, on  being  questioned,  denied  these  calumnies,  and  said 
that  the  difficulties  were  purely  technical,  arising  from  the 
formalities  of  creating  an  entail. 

But  when  public  opinion  has  rushed  down  an  incline,  it  is 
very  difficult  to  get  it  up  again.  Though  Paul  went  every 
day  to  Madame  Evangelista's,  and  in  spite  of  the  assertions  of 
the  two  notaries,  the  insinuated  slander  held  its  own.  Several 
young  ladies,  and  their  mothers  or  their  aunts,  aggrieved  by 
a  match  of  which  they  or  their  families  had  dreamed  for  them- 
selves, could  no  more  forgive  Madame  Evangelista  for  her 
good-luck  than  an  author  forgives  his  friend  for  a  success. 
Some  were  only  too  glad  to  be  avenged  for  the  twenty  years 


A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  385 

of  luxury  and  splendor  by  which  the  Spaniards  had  crushed 
their  vanities.  A  bigwig  at  the  prefecture  declared  that  the 
two  notaries  and  the  two  parties  concerned  could  say  no 
more,  nor  behave  otherwise,  if  the  rupture  were  complete. 
The  time  it  took  to  settle  the  entail  confirmed  the  suspicions 
of  the  citizens  of  Bordeaux. 

"  They  will  sit  by  the  chimney-corner  all  the  winter;  then, 
in  the  spring,  they  will  go  to  some  watering-place ;  and  in  the 
course  of  the  year  we  shall  hear  that  the  match  is  broken  off." 

"You  will  see,"  said  one  set,  "in  order  to  save  the  credit 
of  both  parties,  the  obstacles  will  not  have  arisen  on  either 
side ;  there  will  be  some  demur  in  Chancery,  some  hitch  dis- 
covered by  the  lawyers  to  hinder  the  entail." 

"Madame  Evangelista,"  said  the  others,  "has  been  living 
at  a  rate  that  would  have  exhausted  the  mines  of  Valenciana. 
Then,  when  pay-day  came  round  there  was  nothing  to  be 
found." 

What  a  capital  opportunity  for  calculating  the  handsome 
widow's  expenditure,  so  as  to  prove  her  ruin  to  a  demonstra- 
tion !  Rumor  ran  so  high  that  bets  were  laid  for  and  against 
the  marriage.  And,  in  accordance  with  the  accepted  rules  of 
society,  this  tittle-tattle  remained  unknown  to  the  interested 
parties.  No  one  was  sufficiently  inimical  to  Paul  or  Madame 
Evangelista  to  attack  them  on  the  subject. 

Paul  had  some  business  at  Lanstrac  and  took  advantage  of 
it  to  make  up  a  shooting-party,  inviting  some  of  the  young 
men  of  the  town  as  a  sort  of  farewell  to  his  bachelor  life. 
This  shooting-party  was  regarded  by  society  as  a  flagrant  con- 
firmation of  its  suspicions. 

At  this  juncture  Madame  de  Gyas,  who  had  a  daughter  to 
marry,  thought  it  well  to  sound  her  way,  and  to  rejoice  sadly 
over  the  checkmate  offered  to  Madame  Evangelista.  Natalie 
and  her  mother  were  not  a  little  astonished  to  see  the  mar- 
quise's badly  assumed  distress,  and  asked  her  if  anything  had 
annoyed  her. 
25 


386  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"  Why,"  said  she,  "  can  you  be  ignorant  of  the  reports  cur- 
rent in  Bordeaux?  Though  I  feel  sure  that  they  are  false,  I 
have  come  to  ascertain  the  truth  and  put  a  stop  to  them,  at 
any  rate  in  my  own  circle  of  friends.  To  be  the  dupe  or  the 
accomplice  of  such  a  misapprehension  is  to  be  in  a  false  posi- 
tion, in  which  no  true  friend  can  endure  to  remain." 

"But  what  in  the  world  is  happening?"  asked  the  mother 
and  daughter. 

Madame  de  Gyas  then  had  the  pleasure  of  repeating  every- 
body's comments,  not  sparing  her  intimate  friends  a  single 
dagger-thrust.  Natalie  and  her  mother  looked  at  each  other 
and  laughed ;  but  they  quite  understood  the  purpose  and  mo- 
tives of  their  friend's  revelation.  The  Spanish  lady  revenged 
herself  much  as  Celimene  did  on  Arsinoe. 

"  My  dear — you  who  know  what  provincial  life  is — you 
must  know  of  what  a  mother  is  capable  when  she  has  a 
daughter  on  her  hands  who  does  not  marry,  for  lack  of  a  for- 
tune and  a  lover,  of  beauty  and  talent— for  lack  of  everything 
sometimes  !  She  would  rob  a  diligence,  she  would  commit 
murder,  waylay  a  man  at  a  street  corner,  and  give  herself  away 
a  hundred  times,  if  she  were  worth  giving.  There  are  plenty 
such  in  Bordeaux,  who  are  ready,  no  doubt,  to  attribute  to  us 
their  thoughts  and  actions.  Naturalists  have  described  the 
manners  and  customs  of  many  fierce  animals,  but  they  have 
overlooked  the  mother  and  daughter  in  quest  of  a  husband. 
They  are  hyaenas  who,  as  the  Psalmist  has  it,  seek  whom  they 
may  devour,  and  who  add  to  the  nature  of  the  wild  beast 
the  intelligence  of  man  and  the  genius  of  woman. 

"That  such  little  Bordeaux  spiders  as  Mademoiselle  de 
Belor,  Mademoiselle  de  Trans,  and  their  like,  who  have  spread 
their  nets  for  so  long  without  seeing  a  fly,  or  hearing  the  least 
hum  of  wings  near  them — that  they  should  be  furious  I  under- 
stand, and  I  forgive  them  their  venomous  tattle.  But  that 
you,  who  have  a  title  and  money,  who  are  not  in  the  least 
provincial,  who  have  a  clever  and  accomplished  daughter, 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  387 

pretty  and  free  to  pick  and  choose — that  you,  so  far  above 
everybody  here  by  your  Parisian  elegance,  should  have  taken 
such  a  tone,  is  really  a  matter  of  astonishment.  Am  I  ex- 
pected to  account  to  the  public  for  the  matrimonial  stipula- 
tions which  our  men  of  business  have  considered  necessary 
under  the  political  conditions  which  will  govern  my  son-in- 
law's  existence?  Is  the  mania  for  public  discussion  to  invade 
the  privacy  of  family  life?  Ought  I  to  have  invited  the 
fathers  and  mothers  of  your  province,  under  sealed  covers,  to 
come  and  vote  on  the  articles  of  our  marriage-contract?" 

A  torrent  of  epigrams  was  poured  out  on  Bordeaux. 

Madame  Evangelista  was  about  to  leave  the  town  ;  she  could 
afford  to  criticise  her  friends  and  enemies,  to  caricature  them, 
and  lash  them  at  will,  having  nothing  to  fear  from  them.  So 
she  gave  vent  to  all  the  remarks  she  had  stored  up,  the  re- 
venges she  had  postponed,  and  her  surprise  that  any  one  should 
deny  the  existence  of  the  sun  at  noonday. 

"  Really,  my  dear,"  said  the  Marquise  de  Gyas,  "  Monsieur 
de  Manerville's  visit  to  Lanstrac,  these  parties  to  young  men — 
under  such  circumstances " 

"  Really,  my  dear,"  retorted  the  fine  lady,  interrupting  her, 
"  can  you  suppose  that  we  care  for  the  trumpery  proprieties  of 
a  middle-class  marriage  ?  Am  I  to  keep  Count  Paul  in  lead- 
ing-strings, as  if  he  would  run  away?  Do  you  think  he  needs 
watching  by  the  police?  Need  we  fear  his  being  spirited 
away  by  some  Bordeaux  conspiracy?" 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  friend,  you  give  me  infinite  pleas- 
ure  " 

The  marquise  was  cut  short  in  her  speech  by  the  man- 
servant announcing  Paul.  Like  all  lovers,  Paul  had  thought 
it  delightful  to  ride  eight  leagues  in  order  to  spend  an  hour 
with  Natalie.  He  had  left  his  friends  to  their  sport,  and 
came  in,  booted  and  spurred,  his  whip  in  his  hand. 

"  Dear  Paul,"  said  Natalie,  "  you  have  no  idea  how  effectu- 
ally you  are  answering  madame  at  this  moment," 


388  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

When  Paul  heard  the  calumnies  that  were  rife  in  Bordeaux, 
he  laughed  instead  of  being  angry. 

"The  good  people  have  heard,  no  doubt,  that  there  will 
be  none  of  the  gay  and  uproarious  doings  usual  in  the  country, 
no  midday  ceremony  in  church,  and  they  are  furious.  Well, 
dear  mother,"  said  he,  kissing  Madame  Evangelista's  hand, 
"we  will  fling  a  ball  at  their  heads  on  the  day  when  the  con- 
tract is  signed,  as  a  f&te  is  thrown  to  the  mob  in  the  square  of 
the  Champs  Elysees,  and  give  our  good  friends  the  painful 
pleasure  of  such  a  signing  as  is  rarely  seen  in  a  provincial 
city!" 

This  incident  was  of  great  importance.  'Madame  Evan- 
gelista  invited  all  Bordeaux  on  the  occasion,  and  expressed 
her  intention  of  displaying  in  this  final  entertainment  a  mag- 
nificence that  should  give  the  lie  unmistakably  to  silly  and 
false  reports.  She  was  thus  solemnly  pledged  to  the  world  to 
carry  through  this  marriage. 

The  preparations  for  this  ball  went  on  for  forty  days,  and  it 
was  known  as  the  "  evening  of  the  camellias,"  there  were  such 
immense  numbers  of  these  flowers  on  the  stairs,  in  the  ante- 
room, and  in  the  great  supper-room.  The  time  agreed  with 
the  necessary  delay  for  the  preliminary  formalities  of  the  mar- 
riage, and  the  steps  taken  in  Paris  for  the  settlement  of  the 
entail.  The  lands  adjoining  Lanstrac  were  purchased,  the 
banns  were  published,  and  doubts  were  dispelled.  Friends 
and  foes  had  nothing  left  to  think  about  but  the  preparation 
of  their  dresses  for  the  great  occasion. 

The  time  taken  up  by  these  details  overlaid  the  difficulties 
raised  at  the  first  meeting,  and  carried  away  into  oblivion  the 
words  and  retorts  of  the  stormy  altercation  that  had  arisen 
over  the  question  of  the  settlements.  Neither  Paul  nor  his 
mother-in-law  thought  any  more  of  the  matter.  Was  it  not, 
as  Madame  Evangelista  had  said,  the  lawyers'  business  ?  But 
who  is  there  that  has  not  known,  in  the  rush  of  a  busy  phase 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  389 

of  life,  what  it  is  to  be  suddenly  startled  by  the  voice  of 
memory,  speaking  too  late,  and  recalling  some  important 
fact,  some  imminent  danger? 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  when  the  contract  was  to  be 
signed,  one  of  these  will-o'-the-wisps  of  the  brain  flashed 
upon  Madame  Evangelista  between  sleeping  and  waking. 
The  phrase  spoken  by  herself  at  the  moment  when  Mathias 
agreed  to  Solonet's  proposal  was,  as  it  were,  shouted  in  her 
ear :  Questa  coda  non  e  di  questo  gatto.  In  spite  of  her  igno- 
rance of  business,  Madame  Evangelista  said  to  herself:  "If 
that  sharp  old  lawyer  is  satisfied,  it  is  at  the  expense  of  one  or 
other  of  the  parties."  And  the  damaged  interest  was  certainly 
not  on  Paul's  side,  as  she  had  hoped.  Was  it  her  daughter's 
fortune,  then,  that  was  to  pay  the  costs  of  the  war?  She  re- 
solved to  make  full  inquiries  as  to  the  tenor  of  the  bargain, 
though  she  did  not  consider  what  she  could  do  in  the  event  of 
finding  her  own  interests  too  seriously  compromised. 

The  events  of  this  day  had  so  serious  an  influence  on  Paul's 
married  life  that  it  is  necessary  to  give  some  account  of  the 
external  details  which  have  their  effect  on  every  mind. 

As  the  house  was  forthwith  to  be  sold,  the  Comte  de 
Manerville's  mother-in-law  had  hesitated  at  no  expense.  The 
forecourt  was  graveled,  covered  in  with  a  tent,  and  filled  with 
shrubs,  though  it  was  winter.  The  camellias,  which  were 
talked  of  from  Dax  to  Angoul&me,  decked  the  stairs  and  vesti- 
bules. A  wall  had  been  removed  to  enlarge  the  supper-room 
and  ballroom.  Bordeaux,  splendid  with  the  luxury  of  many 
a  colonial  fortune,  eagerly  anticipated  a  fairy  scene.  By  eight 
o'clock,  when  the  business  was  drawing  to  a  close,  the  popu- 
lace, curious  to  see  the  ladies'  dresses,  formed  a  hedge  on  each 
side  of  the  gateway.  Thus  the  heady  atmosphere  of  a  great 
festivity  excited  all  concerned  at  the  moment  of  signing  the 
contract.  At  the  very  crisis  the  little  lamps  fixed  on  yew- 
trees  were  already  lighted,  and  the  rumbling  of  the  first  car- 
riages came  up  from  the  forecourt. 


390  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

The  two  lawyers  had  dined  with  the  bride  and  bridegroom 
and  the  mother-in-law.  Mathias'  head-clerk,  who  was  to  see 
the  contract  signed  by  certain  of  the  guests  in  the  course  of 
the  evening,  and  to  take  care  that  it  was  not  read,  was  also 
one  of  the  party. 

The  reader  will  rack  his  memory  in  vain — no  dress,  no 
woman  was  ever  to  compare  with  Natalie's  beauty  in  her  satin 
and  lace,  her  hair  beautifully  dressed  in  a  mass  of  curls  falling 
about  her  neck  ;  she  was  like  a  flower  in  its  natural  setting  of 
foliage.  . 

Madame  Evangelista,  in  a  cherry-colored  velvet,  cleverly 
designed  to  set  off  the  brilliancy  of  her  eyes,  her  complexion, 
and  her  hair,  with  all  the  beauty  of  a  woman  of  forty,  wore  her 
pearl  necklace  clasped  with  the  famous  Discrete,  to  give  the 
lie  to  slander. 

Fully  to  understand  the  scene,  it  is  necessary  to  remark 
that  Paul  and  Natalie  sat  by  the  fire  on  a  little  sofa,  and  never 
listened  to  one  word  of  the  guardian's  accounts.  One  as 
much  a  child  as  the  other,  both  equally  happy,  he  in  his 
hopes,  she  in  her  expectant  curiosity,  seeing  life  one  calm  blue 
heaven,  rich,  young,  and  in  love,  they  never  ceased  whispering 
in  each  other's  ears.  Paul,  already  regarding  his  passion  as 
legalized,  amused  himself  with  kissing  the  tips  of  Natalie's 
fingers,  or  just  touching  her  snowy  shoulders  or  her  hair,  hid- 
ing the  raptures  of  these  illicit  joys  from  every  eye.  Natalie 
was  playing  with  a  fan  of  peacock  feathers,  a  gift  from  Paul 
— a  luckless  omen  in  love,  if  we  may  accept  the  superstitious 
belief  of  some  countries,  as  fatal  as  that  of  scissors,  or  any 
other  cutting  instrument,  which  is  based,  no  doubt,  on  some 
association  with  the  mythological  Fates. 

Madame  Evangelista,  sitting  by  the  notaries,  paid  the  closest 
attention  to  the  reading  of  the  two  documents.  After  hearing 
the  schedule  of  her  accounts,  very  learnedly  drawn  out  by 
Solonet,  which  showed  a  reduction  of  the  three  millions  and 
some  hundred  thousand  francs  left  by  Monsieur  Evangelista, 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  391 

to  the  famous  eleven  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand  francs 
constituting  Natalie's  portion,  she  called  out  to  the  young 
couple — 

"Come,  listen,  children;  this  is  your  marriage-contract." 

The  clerk  drank  a  glass  of  eau  de  sucre — sugared  water ; 
Solonet  and  Mathias  blew  their  noses ;  Paul  and  Natalie  looked 
at  the  four  personages,  listened  to  the  preamble,  and  then 
began  to  talk  together  again.  The  statements  of  revenues ; 
the  settlement  of  the  whole  estate  on  either  party  in  the  event 
of  the  other's  death  without  issue ;  the  bequest,  according  to 
law,  of  one-quarter  of  the  whole  property  absolutely  to  the 
wife,  and  of  the  interest  of  one-quarter  more,  however  many 
children  should  survive  ;  the  schedule  of  the  property  held  in 
common ;  the  gift  of  the  diamonds  on  the  wife's  part,  and  of 
the  books  and  horses  on  the  husband's — all  passed  without 
remark.  Then  came  the  settlement  for  the  entail.  And  when 
.everything  had  been  read,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  done 
but  to  sign,  Madame  Evangelista  asked  what  would  be  the 
effect  of  the  entail. 

"The  entailed  estate,  madame,  is  inalienable;  it  is  prop- 
erty separated  from  the  general  estate  of  the  married  pair,  and 
reserved  for  the  eldest  son  of  the  house  from  generation  to 
generation,  without  his  being  thereby  deprived  of  his  share  of 
the  rest  of  the  property." 

"And  what  are  the  consequences  to  my  daughter?"  she 
asked.  Maitre  Mathias,  incapable  of  disguising  the  truth, 
made  reply — 

"  Madame,  the  entail  being  an  inheritance  derived  from 
both  fortunes,  if  the  wife  should  be  the  first  to  die,  and  leaves 
one  or  several  children,  one  of  them  a  boy,  Monsieur  le  Comte 
de  Manerville  will  account  to  them  for  no  more  than  three 
hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand  francs,  from  which  he  will 
deduct  his  one  absolute  fourth,  and  the  fourth  part  of  the 
interest  of  the  residue.  Thus  their  claim  on  him  is  reduced  to 
about  a  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  francs  independently  of 


392  A  MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

his  share  of  profits  on  the  common  stock,  the  sums  he  could 
claim,  etc.  In  the  contrary  case,  if  he  should  die  first,  leav- 
ing a  son  or  sons,  Madame  de  Manerville  would  be  entitled 
to  no  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand  francs, 
to  her  share  of  all  of  Monsieur  de  Manerville's  estate  that  is 
not  included  in  the  entail,  to  the  restitution  of  her  diamonds, 
and  her  portion  of  the  common  stock." 

The  results  of  Maitre  Mathias'  profound  policy  were  now 
amply  evident. 

"My  daughter  is  ruined,"  said  Evangelista  in  a  low  voice. 

The  lawyers  both  heard  her  exclamation. 

"Is  it  ruin,"  said  Maitre  Mathias  in  an  undertone,  "to  es- 
tablish an  indestructible  fortune  for  her  family  in  the  future?  " 

As  he  saw  the  expression  of  his  client's  face,  the  younger 
notary  thought  it  necessary  to  state  the  sum  of  the  disaster  in 
figures. 

"  We  wanted  to  get  three  hundred  thousand  francs  out  of 
them,  and  they  have  evidently  succeeded  in  getting  eight 
hundred  thousand  out  of  us;  the  balance  to  their  advantage 
on  the  contract  is  a  loss  of  four  hundred  thousand  francs  to  us 
fqrxthe  benefit  of  the  children.  We  must  break  it  off  or  go 
on,"  he  added  to  Madame  Evangelista. 

No  words  could  describe  the  silence,  though  brief,  that 
ensued.  Mathias  triumphantly  awaited  the  signature  of  the 
two  persons  who  had  hoped  to  plunder  his  client.  Natalie, 
incapable  of  understanding  that  she  was  bereft  of  half  of  her 
fortune,  and  Paul,  not  knowing  that  the  house  of  Manerville 
was  acquiring  it,  sat  laughing  and  talking  as  before.  Solonet 
and  Madame  Evangelista  looked  at  each  other,  he  concealing 
his  indifference,  she  disguising  a  myriad  angry  feelings. 

After  suffering  from  terrible  remorse,  and  regarding  Paul  as 
the  cause  of  her  dishonesty,  the  widow  had  made  up  her  mind 
to  certain  discreditable  manoeuvres  to  cast  the  blunders  of  her 
guardianship  on  his  shoulders,  making  him  her  victim.  And 
now,  in  an  instant,  she  had  discovered  that,  instead  of  tri- 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  393 

umphing,  she  was  overthrown,  and  that  the  real  victim  was 
her  daughter.  Thus  guilty  to  no  purpose,  she  was  the  dupe 
of  an  honest  old  man,  whose  esteem  she  had  doubtless  sacri- 
ficed. Was  it  not  her  own  secret  conduct  that  had  inspired 
the  stipulations  insisted  on  by  Mathias? 

Hideous  thought !     Mathias  had,  doubtless,  told  Paul. 

If  he  had  not  yet  spoken,  as  soon  as  the  contract  should  be 
signed  that  old  wolf  would  warn  his  client  ef  the  dangers  he 
had  run  and  escaped,  if  it  were  only  to  gather  the  praises  to 
which  everybody  is  open.  Would  he  not  put  him  on  his 
guard  against  a  woman  so  astute  as  to  have  joined  such  an 
ignoble  conspiracy?  Would  he  not  undermine  the  influence 
she  had  acquired  over  her  son-in-law?  And  weak  natures, 
once  warned,  turn  obstinate,  and  never  reconsider  the  cir- 
cumstances. 

So  all  was  lost ! 

On  the  day  when  the  discussion  was  opened,  she  had  trusted 
to  Paul's  feebleness  and  the  impossibility  of  his  retreating  after 
advancing  so  far.  And  now  it  was  she  who  had  tied  her  own 
hands.  Paul,  three  months  since,  would  not  have  had  many 
obstacles  to  surmount  to  break  off  the  marriage;  now,  all  Bor- 
deaux knew  that  the  lawyers  had,  two  months  ago,  smoothed 
away  every  difficulty.  The  banns  were  published  ;  the  wed- 
ding was  fixed  for  the  next  day  but  one.  The  friends  of  both 
families,  all  the  town  were  arriving,  dressed  for  the  ball — how 
could  she  announce  a  postponement?  The  cause  of  the  rup- 
ture would  become  known,  the  unblemished  honesty  of  Maltre 
Mathias  would  gain  credence,  his  story  would  be  believed  in 
preference  to  hers.  The  laugh  would  be  against  the  Evange- 
listas,  of  whom  so  many  were  envious.  She  must  yield  ! 

These  painfully  accurate  reflections  fell  on  Madame  Evange- 
lista  like  a  waterspout  and  crushed  her  brain.  Though  she 
maintained  a  diplomatic  impassibility,  her  chin  showed  the 
nervous  jerking  by  which  Catherine  II.  betrayed  her  fury  one 
day  when,  sitting  on  her  throne  and  surrounded  by  her  Court, 


394  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

she  was  defied  by  the  young  King  of  Sweden  under  almost 
similar  circumstances.  Solonet  noted  the  spasmodic  movement 
of  the  muscles  that  proclaimed  a  mortal  hatred,  a  storm  with- 
out a  sound  or  a  lightning-flash ;  and  in  fact,  at  that  moment, 
the  widow  had  sworn  such  hatred  of  her  son-in-law,  such  an 
implacable  feud  as  the  Arabs  have  left  the  germs  of  in  the 
atmosphere  of  Spain. 

"Monsieur,"  said  she  to  her  notary,  "you  called  this  a 
rigmarole — it  seems  to  me  that  nothing  can  be  clearer." 

"  Madame,  allow  me " 

"  Monsieur,"  she  went  on,  without  listening  to  Solonet,  "  if 
you  did  not  understand  the  upshot  of  this  bargain  at  the  time 
of  our  former  discussion,  it  is  at  least  extraordinary  that  you 
should  not  have  perceived  it  in  the  retirement  of  your  study. 
It  cannot  be  from  incapacity." 

The  young  man  led  her  into  the  adjoining  room,  saying  to 
himself — 

"  More  than  a  thousand  crowns  are  due  to  me  for  the 
schedule  of  accounts,  and  a  thousand  more  for  the  contract ; 
six  thousand  francs  I  can  make  over  the  sale  of  the  house — 
fifteen  thousand  francs  in  all.  We  must  keep  our  temper." 

He  shut  the  door,  gave  Madame  Evangelista  the  cold  look 
of  a  man  of  business,  guessing  the  feelings  that  agitated  her, 
and  said — 

"  Madame,  how,  when  I  have  perhaps  overstepped  in  your 
behalf  the  due  limits  of  finesse,  can  you  repay  my  devotion  by 
such  a  speech?  " 

"But,  monsieur " 

"  Madame,  I  did  not,  it  is  true,  fully  estimate  the  amount 
of  our  surrender;  but  if  you  do  not  care  to  have  Count  Paul 
for  your  son-in-law,  are  you  obliged  to  agree?  The  contract 
is  not  signed.  Give  your  ball  and  postpone  the  signing.  It 
is  better  to  take  in  all  Bordeaux  than  to  be  taken  in  yourself." 

"And  what  excuse  can  I  make  to  all  the  world — already 
prejudiced  against  us — to  account  for  this  delay  ?  ' ' 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  395 

"A  blunder  in  Paris,  a  document  missing,"  said  Solonet. 

"  But  the  land  that  has  been  purchased?  " 

"Monsieur  de  Manerville  will  find  plenty  of  matches  with 
money." 

"  He  !  Oh,  he  will  lose  nothing ;  we  are  losing  everything 
on  our  side." 

"  You,"  said  Solonet,  "  may  have  a  count,  a  better  bargain, 
if  the  title  is  the  great  point  of  this  match  in  your  eyes." 

"No,  no;  we  cannot  throw  our  honor  overboard  in  that 
fashion  !  I  am  caught  in  a  trap,  monsieur.  All  Bordeaux 
would  ring  with  it  to-morrow.  We  have  solemnly  pledged 
ourselves." 

"You  wish  Mademoiselle  Natalie  to  be  happy?"  asked 
Solonet. 

"That  is  the  chief  thing." 

"  In  France,"  said  the  lawyer,  "  does  not  being  happy 
mean  being  mistress  of  the  hearth  ?  She  will  lead  that  nin- 
compoop Manerville  by  the  nose.  He  is  so  stupid  that  he 
has  seen  nothing.  Even  if  he  should  distrust  you,  he  will 
still  believe  in  his  wife.  And  are  not  you  and  his  wife  one? 
Count  Paul's  fate  still  lies  in  your  hands." 

"  If  you  should  be  speaking  truly,  I  do  not  know  what  I 
could  refuse  you  !  "  she  exclaimed,  with  delight  that  glowed 
in  her  eyes. 

"Come  in  again,  then,  madame,"  said  Solonet,  under- 
standing his  client.  "But,  above  all,  listen  to  what  I  say; 
you  may  regard  me  as  incapable  afterward  if  you  please." 

"My  dear  friend,"  said  the  young  lawyer  to  Mathias,  as  he 
re-entered  the  room,  "  for  all  your  skill  you  have  failed  to 
foresee  the  contingency  of  Monsieur  de  Manerville's  death 
without  issue,  or,  again,  that  of  his  leaving  none  but  daughters. 
In  either  of  those  cases  the  entail  would  give  rise  to  lawsuits 
with  other  Manervilles,  for  plently  would  crop  up,  do  not 
doubt  it  for  a  moment.  It  strikes  me,  therefore,  as  desirable 
to  stipulate  that  in  the  former  case  the  entailed  property  should 


396  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

be  included  in  the  general  estate  settled  by  each  on  either, 
and  in  the  second  that  the  entail  should  be  canceled  as  null 
and  void.  It  is  an  agreement  solely  affecting  the  intending 
wife." 

"The  clause  seems  to  me  perfectly  fair,"  said  Mathias. 
"As  to  its  ratification,  Monsieur  le  Comte  will  make  the 
necessary  arrangements  with  the  Court  of  Chancery,  no 
doubt,  if  requisite." 

The  younger  notary  took  a  pen  and  wrote  in  on  the  margin 
this  ominous  clause,  to  which  Paul  and  Natalie  paid  no  atten- 
tion. Madame  Evangelista  sat  with  downcast  eyes  while  it 
was  read  by  Maitre  Mathias. 

"  Now  to  sign,"  said  the  mother. 

The  strong  voice  which  she  controlled  betrayed  vehement 
excitement.  She  had  just  said  to  herself — 

"  No,  my  daughter  shall  not  be  ruined — but  he  shall !  My 
daughter  shall  have  his  name,  title,  and  fortune.  If  Natalie 
should  ever  discover  that  she  does  not  love  her  husband,  if 
some  day  she  should  love  another  man  more  passionately — 
Paul  will  be  exiled  from  France,  and  my  daughter  will  be  free, 
happy,  and  rich." 

Though  Maitre  Mathias  was  expert  in  the  analysis  of 
interests,  he  had  no  skill  in  analyzing  human  passions.  He 
accepted  the  lady's  speech  as  an  honorable  surrender,  instead 
of  seeing  that  it  was  a  declaration  of  war.  While  Solonet 
and  his  clerk  took  care  that  Natalie  signed  in  full  at  the  foot 
of  every  document — a  business  that  required  some  time — 
Mathias  took  Paul  aside  and  explained  to  him  the  bearing  of 
the  clauses  which  he  had  introduced  to  save  him  from  inevit- 
able ruin. 

"  You  have  a  mortgage  on  this  house  for  a  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  francs,"  he  said  in  conclusion,  "and  we  fore- 
close to-morrow.  I  have  at  my  office  the  securities  in  the 
Funds,  which  I  have  taken  care  to  place  in  your  wife's  name. 
Everything  is  quite  regular.  But  the  contract  includes  a 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  397 

receipt  for  the  sum,  represented  by  the  diamonds;  ask  for 
them.  Business  is  business.  Diamonds  are  just  now  going 
up  in  the  market;  they  may  go  down  again.  Your  purchase 
of  the  lands  of  Auzac  and  Saint-Froult  justifies  you  in  turning 
everything  into  money  so  as  not  to  touch  your  wife's  income. 
So,  no  false  pride,  Monsieur  le  Comte.  The  first  payment  is 
to  be  made  after  the  formalities  are  concluded ;  use  the 
diamonds  for  that  purpose ;  it  amounts  to  two  hundred  thou- 
sand francs.  You  will  have  the  mortgage  value  of  this  house 
for  the  second  call,  and  the  income  on  the  entailed  property 
will  help  you  to  pay  off  the  remainder.  If  only  you  are  firm 
enough  to  spend  no  more  than  fifty  thousand  francs  for  the 
first  three  years,  you  will  recoup  the  two  hundred  thousand 
francs  you  now  owe.  If  you  plant  vines  on  the  hill-slopes  of 
Saint-Froult,  you  may  raise  the  returns  to  twenty-six  thousand 
francs.  Thus  the  entailed  property,  without  including  your 
house  in  Paris,  will  some  day  be  worth  fifty  thousand  francs  a 
year — one  of  the  finest  estates  I  know  of.  And  so  you  will 
have  married  very  handsomely." 

Paul  pressed  his  old  friend's  hands  with  warm  affection. 
The  gesture  did  not  escape  Madame  Evangelista,  who  came 
to  hand  the  pen  to  Paul.  Her  suspicion  was  now  certainty ; 
she  was  convinced  that  Paul  and  Mathias  had  an  understand- 
ing. Surges  of  blood,  hot  with  rage  and  hatred,  choked  her 
heart.  Paul  was  warned  ! 

After  ascertaining  that  every  clause  was  duly  signed,  that 
the  three  contracting  parties  had  initialed  the  bottom  of  every 
page  with  their  usual  sign-manual,  Maitre  Mathias  looked  first 
at  his  client  and  then  at  Madame  Evangelista,  and  observing 
that  Paul  did  not  ask  for  the  diamonds,  he  said — 

"  I  suppose  there  will  be  no  question  as  to  the  delivery  of 
the  diamonds  now  that  you  are  but  one  family?" 

"  It  would,  no  doubt,  be  in  order  that  Madame  Evangelista 
should  surrender  them.  Monsieur  de  Manerville  has  given 
his  discharge  for  the  balance  of  the  trust  values,  and  no  one 


398  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

can  tell  who  may  die  or  live,"  said  Maitre  Solonet,  who 
thought  this  an  opportunity  for  inciting  his  client  against  her 
son-in-law. 

"Oh,  my  dear  mother,  it  would  be  an  affront  to  us  if  you 
did  so!"  cried  Paul.  "Summum  Jus,  summa  tnjuria,  mon- 
sieur," said  he  to  Solonet. 

"And  I,  on  my  part,"  said  she,  her  hostile  temper  regard- 
ing Mathias1  indirect  demand  as  an  insult,  "  if  you  do  not 
accept  the  jewels,  will  tear  up  the  contract." 

She  went  out  of  the  room  in  one  of  those  bloodthirsty  furies 
which  only  long  for  the  chance  of  wrecking  everything,  and 
which,  when  that  is  impossible,  rise  to  the  pitch  of  frenzy. 

"In  heaven's  name,  take  them,"  whispered  Natalie.  "My 
mother  is  angry ;  I  will  find  out  why  this  evening,  and  will 
tell  you;  we  will  pacify  her." 

Madame  Evangelista,  quite  pleased  at  this  first  stroke  of 
policy,  kept  on  her  necklace  and  earrings.  She  brought  the 
rest  of  the  jewels,  valued  by  Elie  Magus  at  a  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  francs.  Maitre  Mathias  and  Solonet,  though  accus- 
tomed to  handling  family  diamonds,  exclaimed  at  the  beauty 
of  these  jewels  as  they  examined  the  contents  of  the  cases. 

"You  will  lose  nothing  of  mademoiselle's  fortune,  Mon- 
sieur le  Comte,"  said  Solonet,  and  Paul  reddened. 

"Ay,"  said  Mathias,  "  these  jewels  will  certainly  pay  the 
first  installment  of  the  newly  purchased  land." 

"And  the  expenses  of  the  contract,"  said  Solonet. 

Hatred,  like  love,  is  fed  on  the  merest  trifles.  Everything 
adds  to  it.  Just  as  the  one  we  love  can  do  no  wrong,  the  one 
we  hate  can  do  nothing  right.  Madame  Evangelista  scorned 
the  hesitancy  to  which  a  natural  reluctance  gave  rise  in  Paul 
as  affected  airs ;  while  he,  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  the 
jewel-cases,  would  have  been  glad  to  throw  them  out  of  the 
window.  Madame  Evangelista,  seeing  his  embarrassment, 
fixed  her  eyes  on  him  in  a  way  which  seemed  to  say :  "  Take 
them  out  of  ray  sight !  " 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  399 

"My  dear  Natalie,"  said  Paul  to  his  fiancee,  "put  the 
jewels  away  yourself;  they  are  yours;  I  make  them  a  present 
to  you." 

Natalie  put  them  into  the  drawers  of  a  cabinet.  At  this 
instant  the  clatter  of  carriages  and  the  voices  of  the  guests 
waiting  in  the  adjoining  rooms  required  Natalie  and  her 
mother  to  appear  among  them.  The  rooms  were  immediately 
rilled,  and  the  ball  began. 

"  Take  advantage  of  the  honeymoon  to  sell  your  diamonds," 
said  the  old  notary  to  Paul,  as  he  withdrew. 

While  waiting  for  the  dancing  to  begin,  everybody  was 
discussing  the  marriage  in  lowered  tones,  some  of  the  com- 
pany expressing  doubts  as  to  the  future  prospects  of  the  en- 
gaged couple. 

"Is  it  quite  settled?"  said  one  of  the  magnates  of  the 
town  to  Madame  Evangelista. 

"  We  have  had  so  many  papers  to  read  and  hear  read  that 
we  are  late ;  but  we  may  be  excused,"  replied  she. 

"  For  my  part,  I  heard  nothing,"  said  Natalie,  taking  Paul's 
hand  to  open  the  ball. 

"Both  those  yo'ung  people  like  extravagance,  and  it  will 
not  be  the  mother  that  will  check  them,"  said  a  dowager. 

"  But  they  have  created  an  eatail,  I  hear,  of  fifty  thousand 
francs  a  year." 

"Pooh!" 

"I  see  that  our  good  Maitre  Mathias  has  had  a  finger  in 
the  pie.  And  certainly,  if  that  is  the  case,  the  worthy  man 
will  have  done  his  best  to  save  the  future  fortunes  of  the 
family." 

"Natalie  is  too  handsome  not  to  be  a  desperate  flirt.  By 
the  time  she  has  been  married  two  years,  I  will  not  answer  for 
it  that  Manerville  will  not  be  miserable  in  his  home,"  re- 
marked a  young  wife. 

"What,  the  peas  will  be  'snicked,'  you  think?"  replied 
Maitre  Solonet. 


400  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"He  needed  no  more  than  that  tall  pole,"  said  a  young 
lady. 

"Does  it  not  strike  you  that  Madame  Evangelista  is  not 
best  pleased?" 

"  Well,  my  dear,  I  have  just  been  told  that  she  has  hardly 
twenty-five  thousand  francs  a  year,  and  what  is  that  for 
her?" 

"Beggary,  my  dear." 

"  Yes,  she  has  stripped  herself  for  her  daughter.  Monsieur 
has  been  exacting " 

"Beyond  conception!"  said  Solonet.  "But  he  is  to  be 
a  peer  of  France.  The  Maulincours  and  the  Vidame  de 
Pamiers*  will  help  him  on ;  he  belongs  to  the  Faubourg 
Saint-Germain." 

"Oh,  he  visits  there,  that  is  all,"  said  a  lady,  who  had 
wanted  him  for  her  son-in-law.  "  Mademoiselle  Evangelista,  a 
merchant's  daughter,  will  certainly  not  open  the  doors  of  the 
Chapter  of  Cologne  to  him." 

"  She  is  grand-niece  to  the  Due  de  Casa-Real." 

"  On  the  female  side  !  " 

All  this  tittle-tattle  was  soon  exhausted-.  The  gamblers  sat 
down  to  cards,  the  young  people  danced,  supper  was  served, 
and  the  turmoil  of  festivity  was  not  silenced  till  morning, 
when  the  first  streaks  of  dawn  shone  pale  through  the  win- 
dows. 

After  taking  leave  of  Paul,  who  was  the  last  to  leave,  Ma- 
dame Evangelista  went  up  to  her  daughter's  room,  for  her  own 
had  been  demolished  by  the  builder  to  enlarge  the  ballroom. 
Though  Natalie  and  her  mother  were  dying  for  sleep,  they 
spoke  a  few  words. 

"Tell  me,  darling  mother,  what  is  the  matter?" 

"  My  dear,  I  discovered  this  evening  how  far  a  mother's 
love  may  carry  her.  You  know  nothing  of  affairs,  and  you 
have  no  idea  to  what  suspicions  my  honesty  lies  exposed. 
*  See  "The  Thirteen." 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  401 

However,  I  have  trodden  my  pride  underfoot ;  your  happi- 
ness and  our  honor  were  at  stake." 

"As  concerned  the  diamonds,  you  mean?  He  wept  over 
it,  poor  boy  !  He  would  not  take  them ;  I  have  them." 

"Well,  go  to  sleep,  dearest  child.  We  will  talk  business 
when  we  wake;  for  we  have  business — and  now  there  is  a 
third  to  come  between  us,"  and  she  sighed. 

"  Indeed,  dear  mother,  Paul  will  never  stand  in  the  way  of 
our  happiness,"  said  Natalie,  and  she  went  to  sleep. 

"  Poor  child,  she  does  not  know  that  the  man  has  ruined 
her!" 

Madame  Evangelista  was  now  seized  in  the  grip  of  the  first 
promptings  of  that  avarice  to  which  old  folk  at  last  fall  a 
prey.  She  was  determined  to  replace,  for  her  daughter's 
benefit,  the  whole  of  the  fortune  left  by  her  husband.  She 
regarded  her  honor  as  pledged  to  this  restitution.  Her  affec- 
tion for  Natalie  made  her  in  an  instant  as  close  a  calculator  in 
money  matters  as  she  had  hitherto  been  a  reckless  spendthrift. 
She  proposed  to  invest  her  capital  in  land  after  placing  part 
of  it  in  the  State  Funds,  purchasable  at  that  time  for  about 
eighty  francs. 

A  passion  not  infrequently  produces  a  complete  change  of 
character ;  the  tattler  turns  diplomatic,  the  coward  is  suddenly 
brave.  Hatred  made  the  prodigal  Madame  Evangelista  turn 
parsimonious.  Money  might  help  her  in  the  schemes  of  re- 
venge, as  yet  vague  and  ill-defined,  which  she  proposed  to 
elaborate.  She  went  to  sleep,  saying  to  herself — 

"To-morrow!"  and  by  an  unexplained  phenomenon,  of 
which  the  effects  are  well  known  to  philosophers,  her  brain 
during  sleep  worked  out  her  idea,  threw  light  on  her  plans, 
organized  them,  and  hit  on  a  way  of  ruling  over  Paul's  life, 
devising  a  scheme  which  she  began  to  work  out  on  the  very 
next  day. 

Though  the  excitement  of  the  evening  had  driven  away 
certain  anxious  thoughts  which  had  now  and  again  invaded 
26 


402  A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

Paul,  when  he  was  alone  once  more  and  in  bed  they  returned 
to  torment  him. 

"  It  would  seem,"  said  he  to  himself,  "  that,  but  for  that 
worthy  Mathias,  my  mother-in-law  would  have  taken  me  in. 
Is  it  credible  ?  What  interest  could  she  have  had  in  cheating 
me  ?  Are  we  not  to  unite  our  incomes  and  live  together  ? 
After  all,  what  is  there  to  be  anxious  about  ?  In  a  few  days 
Natalie  will  be  my  wife,  our  interests  are  clearly  defined, 
nothing  can  sever  us.  On  we  go  !  At  the  same  time,  I  will 
be  on  my  guard.  If  Mathias  should  prove  to  be  right — well, 
I  am  not  obliged  to  marry  my  mother-in-law,"  and  so  think- 
ing fell  asleep. 

In  this  second  contest,  Paul's  future  prospects  had  been 
entirely  altered  without  his  being  aware  of  it.  Of  the  two 
women  he  was  marrying,  far  the  cleverer  had  become  his 
mortal  enemy,  and  was  bent  on  separating  her  own  interests" 
from  his.  Being  incapable  of  appreciating  the  difference  that 
the  fact  of  her  creole  birth  made  between  his  mother-in-law's 
character  and  that  of  other  women,  he  was  still  less  able  to 
measure  her  immense  cleverness. 

The  creole  woman  is  a  being  apart,  deriving  her  intellect 
from  Europe,  and  from  the  Tropics  her  vehemently  illogical 
passions,  while  she  is  Indian  in  the  apathetic  indifference  with 
which  she  accepts  good  or  evil  as  it  comes  ;  a  gracious  nature 
too,  but  dangerous,  as  a  child  is  when  it  is  not  kept  in  order. 
Like  a  child,  this  woman  must  have  everything  she  wishes  for, 
and  at  once ;  like  a  child,  she  would  set  a  house  on  fire  to 
boil  an  egg.  In  her  flaccid  every-day  mood  she  thinks  of 
nothing ;  when  she  is  in  a  passion  she  thinks  of  everything. 
There  is  in  her  nature  some  touch  of  the  perfidy  caught  from 
the  negroes  among  whom  she  has  lived  from  the  cradle,  but 
she  is  artless  too,  as  they  are.  Like  them,  and  like  children, 
she  can  wish  persistently  for  one  thing  with  ever-growing  in- 
tensity of  desire,  and  brood  over  an  idea  till  it  hatches  out. 
It  is  a  nature  strangely  compounded  of  good  and  evil  qualities ; 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  403 

and  in  Madame  Evangelista  it  was  strengthened  by  the  Spanish 
temper,  over  which  French  manners  had  laid  the  polish  of  their 
veneer. 

This  nature,  which  had  lain  dormant  in  happiness  for  six- 
teen years,  and  had  since  found  occupation  in  the  frivolities 
of  fashion,  had  discovered  its  own  force  under  the  first  impulse 
of  hatred,  and  flared  up  like  a  conflagration  ;  it  had  broken 
out  at  a  stage  in  her  life  when  a  woman,  bereft  of  what  is 
dearest  to  her,  craves  some  new  material  to  feed  the  energies 
that  are  consuming  her. 

For  three  days  longer  Natalie  would  remain  under  her 
mother's  influence.  So  Madame  Evangelista,  though  van- 
quished, had  still  a  day  before  her,  the  last  her  child  would 
spend  with  her  mother.  By  a  single  word  the  Creole  might 
color  the  lives  of  these  two  beings  whose  fate  it  was  to  walk 
hand  in  hand  through  the  thickets  and  highways  of  Paris 
society — for  Natalie  had  a  blind  belief  in  her  mother.  What 
far-reaching  importance  would  a  hint  of  advice  have  on  a 
mind  thus  prepared  !  The  whole  future  might  be  modified  by 
a  sentence.  No  code,  no  human  constitution,  can  forefend  the 
moral  crime  of  killing  by  a  word.  That  is  the  weak  point  of 
social  forms  of  justice.  That  is  where  the  difference  lies 
between  the  world  of  fashion  and  the  people ;  these  are  out- 
spoken, those  are  hypocrites;  these  snatch  the  knife,  those 
use  the  poison  of  words  and  suggestions ;  these  are  punished 
with  death,  those  sin  with  impunity. 

At  about  noon  next  day,  Madame  Evangelista  was  half 
sitting,  half  reclining  on  Natalie's  bed.  At  this  waking  hour 
they  were  playing  and  petting  each  other  with  fond  caresses, 
recalling  the  happy  memories  of  their  life  together,  during 
which  no  discord  had  troubled  the  harmony  of  their  feelings, 
the  agreement  of  their  ideas,  or  the  perfect  union  of  their 
pleasures. 

"Poor  dear  child,"  said  the  mother,  shedding  genuine 
tears,  "  I  cannot  bear  to  think  that,  after  having  had  your  own 


404  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

way  all  your  life,  to-morrow  evening  you  will  be  bound  to  a 
man  whom  you  must  obey  !  " 

"Oh,  my  dear  mother,  as  to  obeying  him  !  "  said  Natalie, 
with  a  little  willful  nod  expressive  of  pretty  rebellion.  "  You 
laugh  !  "  she  went  on,  "  but  my  father  always  indulged  your 
fancies.  And  why  ?  Because  he  loved  you.  Shall  not  I  be 
loved?" 

"  Yes,  Paul  is  in  love  with  you.  But  if  a  married  woman 
is  not  careful,  nothing  evaporates  so  quickly  as  conjugal  affec- 
tion. The  influence  a  wife  may  preserve  over  her  husband 
depends  on  the  first  steps  in  married  life,  and  you  will  want 
good  advice." 

"  But  you  will  be  with  us." 

"Perhaps,  my  dear  child.  Last  evening,  during  the  ball, 
I  very  seriously  considered  the  risks  of  our  being  together'. 
If  my  presence  were  to  be  disadvantageous  to  you,  if  the 
little  details  by  which  you  must  gradually  confirm  your  authority 
as  a  wife  should  be  ascribed  to  my  influence,  your  home  would 
become  a  hell.  At  the  first  frown  on  your  husband's  brow, 
should  not  I,  so  proud  as  I  am,  instantly  quit  the  house?  If 
I  am  to  leave  it  sooner  or  later,  in  my  opinion,  I  had  better 
never  enter  it.  I  could  not  forgive  your  husband  if  he  dis- 
united us. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  when  you  are  the  mistress,  when  your 
husband  is  to  you  what  your  father  was  to  me,  there  will  be 
less  fear  of  any  such  misfortune.  Although  such  a  policy 
must  be  painful  to  a  heart  so  young  and  tender  as  yours,  it  is 
indispensable  for  your  happiness  that  you  should  be  the  abso- 
lute sovereign  of  your  home." 

"  Why,  then,  dear  mother,  did  you  say  I  was  to  obey 
him?" 

"  Dear  little  girl,  to  enable  a  woman  to  command,  she 
must  seem  always  to  do  what  her  husband  wishes.  If  you 
did  not  know  that,  you  might  wreck  your  future  life  by  an 
untimely  rebellion.  Paul  is  a  weak  man ;  he  might  come 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  405 

under  the  influence  of  a  friend,  nay,  he  might  fall  under  the 
control  of  a  woman,  and  you  would  feel  the  effects  of  their 
influence.  Forefend  such  misfortunes  by  being  mistress  your- 
self. Will  it  not  be  better  that  you  should  govern  him  than 
that  any  one  else  should?  " 

"No  doubt,"  said  Natalie.  "I  could  only  aim  at  his 
happiness." 

"And  it  certainly  is  my  part,  dear  child,  to  think  only  of 
yours,  and  to  endeavor  that,  in  so  serious  a  matter,  you 
should  not  find  yourself  without  a  compass  in  the  midst  of 
the  shoals  you  must  navigate." 

"  But,  my  darling  mother,  are  we  not  both  of  us  firm 
enough  to  remain  together  under  his  roof  without  provoking 
the  frowns  you  seem  so  much  to  dread  ?  Paul  is  fond  of  you, 
mamma." 

"Oh,  he  fears  me  more  than  he  loves  me.  Watch  him 
narrowly  to-day  when  I  tell  him  that  I  shall  leave  you  to  go 
to  Paris  without  me,  and,  however  carefully  he  may  try  to 
conceal  his  feelings,  you  will  see  his  secret  satisfaction  in  his 
face." 

"But  why?"  said  Natalie. 

"Why,  my  child?  I  am  like  Saint-John-Chrysostom — I 
will  tell  him  why,  and  before  you." 

"  But  since  I  am  marrying  him  on  the  express  condition 
that  you  and  I  are  not  to  part?  "  said  Natalie. 

"Our  separation  has  become  necessary,"  Madame  Evange- 
lista  replied.  "Several  considerations  affect  my  future  pros- 
pects. I  am  very  poor.  You  will  have  a  splendid  life  in 
Paris;  I  could  not  live  with  you  suitably  without  exhausting 
the  little  possessions  that  remain  to  me ;  whereas,  by  living  at 
Lanstrac,  I  can  take  care  of  your  interests  and  reconstitute  my 
own  fortune  by  economy." 

"You,  mother  !  you  economize?"  cried  Natalie,  laughing. 
"  Come,  do  not  be  a  grandmother  yet.  What,  would  you  part 
from  me  for  such  a  reason  as  that  ?  Dear  mother,  Paul  may 


406  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

seem  to  you  just  a  little  stupid,  but  at  least  he  is  perfectly  dis- 
interested  " 

"Well,"  replied  Madame  Evangelista,  in  a  tone  big  with 
comment,  which  made  Natalie's  heart  beat,  "the  discussion 
of  the  contract  had  made  me  suspicious  and  suggested  some 
doubts  to  my  mind.  But  do  not  be  uneasy,  dearest  child," 
she  went  on,  putting  her  arm  round  the  girl's  neck  and  clasp- 
ing her  closely,  "  I  will  not  leave  you  alone  for  long.  When 
my  return  to  you  can  give  him  no  umbrage,  when  Paul  has 
learned  to  judge  me  truly,  we  will  go  back  to  our  snug  little 
life  again,  our  evening  chats " 

"Why,  mother,  can  you  live  without  your  Ninie?"  she 
asked,  caressingly. 

"  Yes,  my  darling,  because  I  shall  be  living  for  you.  Will 
not  my  motherly  heart  be  constantly  rejoiced  by  the  idea  that 
I  am  contributing,  as  I  ought,  to  your  fortune  and  your  hus- 
band's?" 

"  But,  my  dear,  adorable  mother,  am  I  to  be  alone  there 
with  Paul  ?  At  once  ?  Quite  alone  ?  What  will  become  of 
me?  What  will  happen?  What  ought  I  to  do — or  not  to 
do?" 

"  Poor  child,  do  you  think  I  mean  to  desert  you  forthwith 
at  the  first  battle  ?  We  will  write  to  each  other  three  times  a 
week,  like  two  lovers,  and  thus  we  shall  always  live  in  each 
other's  heart.  Nothing  can  happen  to  you  that  I  shall  not 
know,  and  I  will  protect  you  against  all  evil.  And  beside, 
it  would  be  too  ridiculous  that  I  should  not  go  to  visit  you  ; 
that  would  cast  a  reflection  on  your  husband  ;  I  shall  always 
spend  a  month  or  two  with  you  in  Paris " 

"Alone — alone  with  him,  and  at  once!"  cried  Natalie  in 
terror,  interrupting  her  mother. 

"Are  you  not  to  be  his  wife?" 

"  Yes,  and  I  am  quite  content ;  but  tell  me  at  least  how  to 
behave.  You,  who  did  what  you  would  with  my  father,  know 
all  about  it,  and  I  will  obey  you  blindly." 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  407 

Madame  Evangelista  kissed  her  daughter's  forehead ;  she 
had  been  hoping  and  waiting  for  this  request. 

"  My  child,  my  advice  must  be  adapted  to  the  circum- 
stances. Men  are  not  all  alike.  The  lion  and  the  frog  are  less 
dissimilar  than  one  man  as  compared  with  another,  morally 
speaking.  Do  I  know  what  will  happen  to  you  to-morrow  ? 
I  can  only  give  you  general  instructions  as  to  your  usual  plan 
of  conduct." 

"  Dearest  mother,  tell  me  at  once  all  you  know." 

"In  the  first  place,  my  dear  child,  the  cause  of  ruin  to 
married  women  who  would  gladly  retain  their  husband's  heart 
— and,"  she  added,  as  a  parenthesis,  "  to  retain  their  affection 
and  to  rule  the  man  are  one  and  the  same  thing — well,  the 
chief  cause  of  matrimonial  differences  lies  in  the  unbroken 
companionship,  which  did  not -subsist  in  former  days,  and 
which  was  introduced  into  this  country  with  the  mania  for 
family  life.  Ever  since  the  Revolution  vulgar  notions  have 
invaded  aristocratic  households.  This  misfortune  is  attribu- 
table to  one  of  their  writers,  Rousseau,  a  base  heretic,  who 
had  none  but  reactionary  ideas,  and  who — how  I  know 
not — argued  out  the  most  irrational  conclusions.  He  asserted 
that  all  women  have  the  same  rights  and  the  same  faculties; 
that  under  the  conditions  of  social  life  the  laws  of  Nature 
must  be  obeyed — as  if  the  wife  of  a  Spanish  Grandee — as  if 
you  or  I — had  anything  in  common  with  a  woman  of  the 
people.  And  since  then  women  of  rank  have  nursed  their 
own  children,  have  brought  up  their  daughters,  and  lived  at 
home. 

"  Life  has  thus  been  made  so  complicated  that  happiness  is 
almost  impossible ;  for  such  an  agreement  of  two  characters 
as  has  enabled  you  and  me  to  live  together  as  friends  is  a  rare 
exception.  And  perpetual  friction  is  not  less  to  be  avoided 
between  parents  and  children  than  between  husband  and  wife. 
There  are  few  natures  in  which  love  can  survive  in  spite  of 
omnipresence ;  that  miracle  is  the  prerogative  of  God. 


408  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"So  place  the  barriers  of  society  between  you  and  Paul; 
go  to  balls,  to  the  opera,  drive  out  in  the  morning,  dine  out 
in  the  evening,  pay  visits ;  do  not  give  Paul  more  than  a  few 
minutes  of  your  time.  By  this  system  you  will  never  lose 
your  value  in  his  eyes.  When  two  beings  have  nothing  but 
sentiment  to  go  through  life  on,  they  soon  exhaust  its  re- 
sources, and  ere  long  satiety  and  disgust  ensue.  Then,  when 
once  the  sentiment  is  blighted,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  Make  no 
mistake ;  when  love  is  extinct,  only  indifference  or  contempt 
ever  fills  its  place.  So  be  always  fresh  and  new  to  him.  If 
he  bores  you — that  may  occur — at  any  rate,  never  bore  him. 
To  submit  to  boredom  on  occasion  is  one  of  the  conditions  of 
every  form  of  power.  You  will  have  no  occasion  to  vary  your 
happiness  either  by  thrift  in  money  matters  or  the  manage- 
ment of  a  household ;  hence,  if  you  do  not  lead  your  husband 
to  share  your  outside  pleasures,  if  you  do  not  amuse  him,  in 
short,  you  will  sink  into  the  most  crushing  lethargy.  Then 
begins  the  spleen  of  love.  But  we  always  love  those  who 
amuse  us  or  make  us  happy.  To  give  and  to  receive  happi- 
ness are  two  systems  of  wifely  conduct  between  which  a  gulf 
lies." 

"Dear  mother,  I  am  listening,  but  I  do  not  understand." 

"If  you  love  Paul  so  blindly  as  to  do  everything  he  desires, 
and  if  he  makes  you  really  happy,  there  is  an  end  of  it ;  you 
will  never  be  the  mistress,  and  the  wisest  precepts  in  the  world 
will  be  of  no  use." 

"  That  is  rather  clearer ;  but  I  learn  the  rule  without  know- 
ing how  to  apply  it,"  said  Natalie,  laughing.  "  Well,  I  have 
the  theory,  and  practice  will  follow." 

"My  poor  Ninie,"  said  her  mother,  dropping  a  sincere 
tear  as  she  thought  of  her  daughter's  marriage  and  pressed  her 
to  her  heart,  "  events  will  strengthen  your  memory.  In  short, 
my  Natalie,"  said  she  after  a  pause,  during  which  they  sat 
clasped  in  a  sympathetic  embrace,  "you  will  learn  that  each 
of  us,  as  a  woman,  has  her  destiny,  just  as  every  man  has  his 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  409 

vocation.  A  woman  is  born  to  be  a  woman  of  fashion,  the 
charming  mistress  of  her  house,  just  as  a  man  is  born  to  be 
a  general  or  a  poet.  Your  calling  in  life  is  to  attract.  And 
your  education  has  fitted  you  for  the  world.  In  these  days  a 
woman  ought  to  be  brought  up  to  grace  a  drawing-room,  as 
of  old  she  was  brought  up  for  the  Gynseceum.  You,  child, 
were  never  made  to  be  the  mother  of  a  family  or  a  notable 
housekeeper. 

"  If  you  have  children,  I  hope  they  will  not  come  to  spoil 
your  figure  as  soon  as  you  are  married.  Nothing  can  be  more 
vulgar — and  beside,  it  casts  reflections  on  your  husband's  love 
for  you.  Well,  if  you  have  children  two  or  three  years  hence, 
you  will  have  nurses  and  tutors  to  bring  them  up.  You  must 
always  be  the  great  lady,  representing  the  wealth  and  pleasures 
of  the  house ;  but  only  show  your  superiority  in  such  things 
as  flatter  men's  vanity,  and  hide  any  superiority  you  may 
acquire  in  serious  matters." 

"You  frighten  me,  mamma!"  cried  Natalie.  "How  am 
I  ever  to  remember  all  your  instructions  ?  How  am  I,  heed- 
less and  childish  as  I  know  I  am,  to  reckon  on  results  and 
always  reflect  before  acting  ?  " 

"  My  darling  child,  I  am  only  telling  you  now  what  you 
would  learn  for  yourself  later,  paying  for  experience  by 
wretched  mistakes,  by  misguided  conduct,  which  would  cause 
you  many  regrets  and  hamper  your  life." 

"But  how,  then,  am  I  to  begin?"  asked  the  handsome 
Natalie  artlessly. 

"Instinct  will  guide  you,"  said  her  mother.  "What  Paul 
feels  for  you  at  this  moment  is  far  more  desire  than  love ;  for 
the  love  to  which  desire  gives  rise  is  hope,  and  that  which 
follows  its  gratification  is  realization.  There,  my  dear,  lies 
your  power,  there  is  the  heart  of  the  question.  What  woman 
is  not  loved  the  day  before  marriage  ?  Be  still  loved  the  day 
after,  and  you  will  be  loved  for  life.  Paul  is  weak ;  he  will 
be  easily  formed  by  habit ;  if  he  yields  once,  he  will  yield  al- 


410  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

ways.  A  woman  not  yet  won  may  insist  on  anything.  Do 
not  commit  the  folly  I  have  seen  in  so  many  wives,  who,  not 
knowing  the  importance  of  the  first  hours  of  their  sovereignty, 
waste  them  in  folly,  in  aimless  absurdities.  Make  use  of  the 
dominion  given  you  by  your  husband's  first  passion  to  ac- 
custom him  to  obey  you.  And  to  break  him  in,  choose  the 
most  unreasonable  thing  possible,  so  as  to  gauge  the  extent  of 
your  power  by  the  extent  of  his  concession.  What  merit 
would  there  be  in  making  him  agree  to  what  is  reasonable  ? 
Would  that  be  obeying  you?  'Always  take  a  bull  by  the 
horns,'  says  a  Castilian  proverb.  When  once  he  sees  the  use- 
lessness  of  his  weapons  and  his  strength,  he  is  conquered.  If 
your  husband  commits  a  folly  for  your  sake,  you  will  master 
him." 

"  Good  heavens  !     But  why  ?  " 

"Because,  my  child,  marriage  is  for  life,  and  a  husband  is 
not  like  any  other  man.  So  never  be  so  foolish  as  to  give 
way  in  anything  whatever.  Always  be  strictly  reserved  in 
your  speech  and  actions ;  you  may  even  go  to  the  point  of 
coldness,  for  that  may  be  modified  at  pleasure,  while  there  is 
nothing  beyond  the  most  vehement  expressions  of  love.  A 
husband,  my  dear,  is  the  only  man  to  whom  a  woman  must 
grant  no  license. 

"  And,  after  all,  nothing  is  easier  than  to  preserve  your 
dignity.  The  simple  words,  '  Your  wife  must  not  or  cannot 
do  this  thing  or  that,'  is  the  great  talisman.  A  woman's 
whole  life  is  wrapped  up  in  '  I  will  not ! — I  cannot !  '  'I 
cannot '  is  the  irresistible  appeal  of  weakness  which  succumbs, 
weeps,  and  wins.  '  I  will  not '  is  the  last  resort.  It  is  the 
crowning  effort  of  feminine  strength ;  it  should  never  be  used 
but  on  great  occasions.  Success  depends  entirely  on  the  way 
in  which  a  woman  uses  these  two  words,  works  on  them,  and 
varies  them. 

"But  there  is  a  better  method  of  rule  than  these,  which 
sometimes  involve  a  contest.  I,  my  child,  governed  by  faith. 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  411 

If  your  husband  believes  in  you,  you  may  do  anything.  To 
inspire  him  with  this  religion,  you  must  convince  him  that 
you  understand  him.  And  do  not  think  that  this  is  such  an 
easy  matter.  A  woman  can  always  prove  that  she  loves  a 
man,  but  it  is  more  difficult  to  get  him  to  confess  that  she  has 
understood  him.  I  must  tell  you  everything,  my  child  ;  for, 
to  you,  life  with  all  its  complications,  a  life  in  which  two  wills 
are  to  be  reconciled  and  harmonized,  will  begin  to-morrow. 
Do  you  realize  the  difficulty?  The  best  way  to  bring  two 
wills  into  agreement  is  to  take  care  that  there  is  but  one  in 
the  house.  People  often  say  that  a  woman  makes  trouble  for 
herself  by  this  inversion  of  the  parts ;  but,  my  dear,  the  wife 
is  thus  in  a  position  to  command  events  instead  of  submitting 
to  them,  and  that  single  advantage  counterbalances  every  pos- 
sible disadvantage." 

Natalie  kissed  her  mother's  hands,  on  which  she  left  her 
tears  of  gratitude.  Like  all  women  in  whom  physical  passion 
does  not  fire  the  passion  of  the  soul,  she  suddenly  took  in  all 
the  bearings  of  this  lofty  feminine  policy.  Still,  like  spoilt 
children  who  will  never  admit  that  they  are  beaten  even  by 
the  soundest  reasoning,  but  who  reiterate  their  obstinate  de- 
mands, she  returned  to  the  charge  with  one  of  those  personal 
arguments  that  are  suggested  by  the  logical  rectitude  of  chil- 
dren. 

"  My  dear  mother,  a  few  days  ago  you  said  so  much  about 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  Paul's  fortune,  which  you  alone 
could  manage;  why  have  you  changed 'your  views  in  thus 
leaving  us  to  ourselves?" 

"I  did  not  then  know  the  extent  of  my  indebtedness  to 
you,  nor  how  much  I  owed,"  replied  her  mother,  who  would 
not  confess  her  secret.  "  Beside,  in  a  year  or  two  I  can  give 
you  my  answer. 

"  Now,  Paul  will  be  here  directly.  We  must  dress.  Be  as 
coaxing  and  sweet,  you  know,  as  you  were  that  evening  when 
we  discussed  that  ill-starred  contract,  for  to-day  I  am  bent  on 


412  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

saving  a  relic  of  the  family,  and  on  giving  you  a  thing  to 
which  I  am  superstitiously  attached." 

"What  is  that?" 

"The  Discrete." 

Paul  appeared  at  about  four  o'clock.  Though,  when 
addressing  his  mother,  he  did  his  utmost  to  seem  gracious, 
Madame  Evangelista  saw  on  his  brow  the  clouds  which  his 
cogitations  of  the  night  and  reflections  on  waking  had  gathered 
there. 

"  Mathias  has  told  him,"  thought  she,  vowing  that  she 
would  undo  the  old  lawyer's  work. 

"My  dear  boy,"  she  said,  "you  have  left  your  diamonds 
in  the  cabinet  drawer,  and  I  honestly  confess  that  I  never 
want  to  see  the  things  again  which  so  nearly  raised  a  storm 
between  us.  Beside,  as  Mathias  remarked,  they  must  be  sold 
to  provide  for  the  first  installment  of  payment  on  the  lands 
you  have  purchased." 

"The  diamonds  are  not  mine,"  rejoined  Paul.  "I  gave 
them  to  Natalie,  so  that  when  you  see  her  wear  them  you  may 
never  more  remember  the  trouble  they  have  caused  you." 

Madame  Evangelista  took  Paul's  hand  and  pressed  it  cor- 
dially, while  restraining  a  sentimental  tear. 

"Listen,  my  dear,  good  children,"  said  she,  looking  at 
Natalie  and  Paul.  "If  this  is  so,  I  will  propose  to  make  a 
bargain  with  you.  I  am  obliged  to  sell  my  pearl  necklace  and 
earrings.  Yes,  Paul ;  I  will  not  invest  a  centime  in  an  annuity; 
I  do  not  forget  my  duties  to  you.  Well,  I  confess  my  weak- 
ness, but  to  sell  the  Discrete  seems  to  me  to  portend  disaster. 
To  part  with  a  diamond  known  to  have  belonged  to  Philip  II., 
to  have  graced  his  royal  hand — a  historical  gem  which  the 
Duke  of  Alva  played  with  for  ten  years  on  the  hilt  of  his 
sword — no,  it  shall  never  be.  Elie  Magus  valued  my  necklace 
and  earrings  at  a  hundred-odd  thousand  francs;  let  us  ex- 
change them  for  the  jewels  I  have  handed  over  to  you  to  can- 


A    MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  413 

eel  my  debts  to  my  daughter ;  you  will  gain  a  little,  but  what 
do  I  care ;  I  am  not  grasping.  And  then,  Paul,  out  of  your 
savings  you  can  have  the  pleasure  of  procuring  a  diadem  or 
hairpins  for  Natalie,  a  diamond  at  a  time.  Instead  of  having 
one  of  those  fancy  sets,  trinkets  which  are  in  fashion  only 
among  second-rate  people,  your  wife  will  thus  have  magnifi- 
cent stones  that  will  give  her  real  pleasure.  If  something 
must  be  sold,  is  it  not  better  to  get  rid  of  these  old-fashioned 
jewels,  and  keep  the  really  fine  things  in  the  family?" 

"  But  you,  my  dear  mother,"  said  Paul. 

"  I,"  replied  Madame  Evangelista,  "  I  want  nothing  now. 
No,  I  am  going  to  be  your  farm-bailiff  at  Lanstrac.  Would  it 
not  be  sheer  folly  to  go  to  Paris  just  when  I  have  to  wind  up 
my  affairs  here  ?  I  am  going  to  be  avaricious  for  my  grand- 
children." 

"Dear  mother,"  said  Paul,  much  touched,  "ought  I  to 
accept  this  exchange  without  compensation?" 

"  Dear  heaven  !  are  you  not  my  nearest  and  dearest?  Do 
you  think  that  I  shall  find  no  happiness  when  I  sit  by  my  fire 
and  say  to  myself:  '  Natalie  is  gone  in  splendor  to-night  to  the 
Duchesse  de  Berri's  ball.  When  she  sees  herself  with  my 
diamond  at  her  throat,  my  earrings  in  her  ears,  she  will  have 
those  little  pleasures  of  self-satisfaction  which  add  so  much  to 
a  woman's  enjoyment,  and  make  her  gay  and  attractive.' 
Nothing  crushes  a  woman  so  much  as  the  chafing  of  her  vanity. 
I  never  saw  a  badly  dressed  woman  look  amiable  and  pleasant. 
Be  honest,  Paul !  we  enjoy  much  more  through  the  one  we 
love  than  in  any  pleasure  of  our  own." 

"What  on  earth  was  Mathias  driving  at  ?"  thought  Paul. 
"Well,  mother,"  said  he,  in  a  low  voice,  "  I  accept." 

"  I  am  quite  overpowered,"  said  Natalie. 

Just  now  Solonet  came  in  with  good  news  for  his  client. 
He  had  found  two  speculators  of  his  acquaintance,  builders, 
who  were  much  tempted  by  the  house,  as  the  extent  of  the 
grounds  afforded  good  building  land. 


414  A    MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

"  They  are  prepared  to  pay  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
francs,"  said  he ;  "  but  if  you  are  ready  to  sell,  I  could  bring 
them  up  to  three  hundred  thousand.  You  have  two  acres  of 
garden." 

"  My  husband  paid  two  hundred  thousand  for  the  whole 
thing,"  said  she,  "so  I  agree;  but  you  will  not  include  the 
furniture  or  the  mirrors." 

"Ah,  ha!"  said  Solonet,  with  a  laugh,  "you  understand 
business." 

"  Alas  !  needs  must,"  said  she,  with  a  sigh. 

"  I  hear  that  a  great  many  persons  are  coming  to  your  mid- 
night ceremony,"  said  Solonet,  who,  finding  himself  in  the 
way,  bowed  himself  out. 

Madame  Evangelista  went  with  him  as  far  as  the  door  of 
the  outer  drawing-room,  and,  seeing  there  was  no  fear  of 
being  overheard,  said  to  him  privately— 

"  I  have  now  property  representing  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  francs ;  if  I  get  two  hundred  thousand  francs  for 
myself  out  of  the  price  of  the  house,  I  can  command  a  capital 
of  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs.  I  want  to  invest 
it  to  the  best  advantage,  and  I  trust  to  you  to  do  it.  I  shall 
most  likely  remain  at  Lanstrac." 

The  young  lawyer  kissed  his  client's  hand  with  a  bow  of 
gratitude,  for  the  widow's  tone  led  him  to  believe  that  this 
alliance,  strengthened  by  interest,  might  even  go  a  little 
further. 

"You  may  depend  on  me,"  said  he.  "I  will  find  you 
trade  investments,  in  which  you  will  risk  nothing,  and  make 
large  profits." 

"  Well — till  to-morrow,"  said  she ;  "  for  you  and  Monsieur 
le  Marquis  de  Gyas  are  going  to  sign  for  us." 

"Why,  dear  mother,  do  you  refuse  to  come  with  us  to 
Paris?"  asked  Paul.  "  Natalie  is  as  much  vexed  with  me  as 
if  I  were  the  cause  of  your  determination." 

"  I  have  thought  it  well  over,  my  children,  and  I  should 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  415 

be  in  your  way.  You  would  think  yourselves  obliged  to  in- 
clude me  as  a  third  in  everything  you  might  do,  and  young 
people  have  notions  of  their  own  which  I  might  involuntarily 
oppose.  Go  to  Paris  by  yourselves.  I  do  not  propose  to 
exercise  over  the  Comtesse  de  Manerville  the  mild  dominion 
I  held  over  Natalie.  I  must  leave  her  entirely  to  you.  There 
are  habits  which  she  and  I  share,  you  see,  Paul,  and  which 
must  be  broken.  My  influence  must  give  way  to  yours.  I 
wish  you  to  be  attached  to  me ;  believe  me,  I  have  your  in- 
terests at  heart  more  than  you  think  perhaps.  Young  hus- 
bands, sooner  or  later,  are  jealous  of  a  wife's  affection  for  her 
mother.  Perhaps  they  are  right.  When  you  are  entirely 
united,  when  love  has  amalgamated  your  souls  into  one — then, 
my  dear  boy,  you  will  have  no  fears  of  an  adverse  influence 
when  you  see  me  under  your  roof. 

"  I  know  the  world,  men  and  things  ;  I  have  seen  many  a 
household  rendered  unhappy  by  the  blind  affection  of  a 
mother  who  made  herself  intolerable,  as  much  to  her  daughter 
as  to  her  son-in-law.  The  affection  of  old  people  is  often 
petty  and  vexatious ;  perhaps  I  should  not  succeed  in  effacing 
myself.  I  am  weak  enough  to  think  myself  handsome  still ; 
some  flatterers  try  to  persuade  me  that  I  am  lovable,  and  I 
might  assume  an  inconvenient  prominence.  Let  me  make  one 
more  sacrifice  to  your  happiness.  I  have  given  you  my  for- 
tune ;  well,  now  I  surrender  my  last  womanly  vanities.  Your 
good  father  Mathias  is  growing  old ;  he  cannot  look  after 
your  estates.  I  will  constitute  myself  your  bailiff.  I  shall 
make  such  occupation  for  myself  as  old  folk  must  sooner  or 
later  fall  back  on  ;  then,  when  you  need  me,  I  will  go  to  Paris 
and  help  in  your  plans  of  ambition. 

"Come,  Paul,  be  honest;  this  arrangement  is  to  your 
mind?  Answer." 

Paul  would  not  admit  it,  but  he  was  very  glad  to  be  free. 
The  suspicions  as  to  his  mother-in-law's  character,  implanted 
in  his  mind  by  the  old  notary,  were  dispelled  by  this  conver- 


416  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

sation,  which  Madame   Evangelista  continued  to   the   same 
effect. 

"  My  mother  was  right,"  thought  Natalie,  who  was  watch- 
ing Paul's  expression.  "  He  is  really  glad  to  see  me  parted 
from  her.  But  why?" 

Was  not  this  Why  ?  the  first  query  of  suspicion,  and  did  it 
not  add  considerable  weight  to  her  mother's  instructions? 

There  are  some  natures  who,  on  the  strength  of  a  single 
proof,  can  believe  in  friendship.  In  such  folk  as  these  the 
North  wind  blows  away  clouds  as  fast  as  the  West  wind  brings 
them  up ;  they  are  content  with  effects,  and  do  not  look  for 
the  causes.  Paul's  was  one  of  these  essentially  confiding 
characters,  devoid  of  ill-feeling,  and  no  less  devoid  of  fore- 
sight. His  weakness  was  the  outcome  of  kindness  and  a 
belief  in  goodness  in  others,  far  more  than  of  want  of  strength 
of  mind. 

Natalie  was  pensive  and  sad  ;  she  did  not  know  how  to  do 
without  her  mother.  Paul,  with  the  sort  of  fatuity  that  love 
can  produce,  laughed  at  his  bride's  melancholy  mood,  prom- 
ising himself  that  the  pleasures  of  married  life  and  the  ex- 
citement of  Paris  would  dissipate  it.  It  was  with  marked  sat- 
isfaction that  Madame  Evangelista  encouraged  Paul  in  his 
confidence,  for  the  first  condition  of  revenge  is  dissimulation. 
Overt  hatred  is  powerless. 

The  creole  lady  had  made  two  long  strides  already.  Her 
daughter  had  possession  of  splendid  jewels  which  had  cost 
Paul  two  hundred  thousand  francs,  and  to  which  he  would, 
no  doubt,  add  more.  Then,  she  was  leaving  the  two  young 
people  to  themselves,  with  no  guidance  but  unregulated  love. 
Thus  she  had  laid  the  foundations  of  revenge  of  which  her 
daughter  knew  nothing,  though  sooner  or  later  she  would  be 
accessory  to  it. 

Now,  would  Natalie  love  Paul?  This  was  as  yet  an  un- 
answered question,  of  which  the  issue  would  modify  Madame 
Evangelista's  schemes ;  for  she  was  too  sincerely  fond  of  her 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  417 

daughter  not  to  be  tender  of  her  happiness.  Thus  Paul's 
future  life  depended  on  himself.  If  he  could  make  his  wife 
love  him,  he  would  be  saved. 

Finally,  on  the  following  night,  after  an  evening  spent  with 
the  four  witnesses  whom  Madame  Evangelista  had  invited  to 
the  lengthy  dinner  which  followed  the  legal  ceremony,  at  mid- 
night the  young  couple  and  their  friends  attended  mass  by 
the  light  of  blazing  tapers  in  the  presence  of  above  a  hundred 
curious  spectators. 

A  wedding  celebrated  at  night  always  seems  of  ill-omen ; 
daylight  is  a  symbol  of  life  and  enjoyment,  and  its  happy 
augury  is  lacking.  Ask  the  stanchest  spirit  the  cause  of  this 
chill,  why  the  dark  vault  depresses  the  nerves,  why  the  sound 
of  footsteps  is  so  startling,  why  the  cry  of  owls  and  bats  is  so 
strangely  audible.  Though  there  is  no  reason  for  alarm,  every 
one  quakes ;  darkness,  the  forecast  of  death,  is  crushing  to  the 
spirit. 

Natalie,  torn  from  her  mother,  was  weeping.  The  girl  was 
tormented  by  all  the  doubts  which  clutch  the  heart  on  the 
threshold  of  anew  life,  where,  in  spite  of  every  promise  of 
happiness,  there  are  a  thousand  pitfalls  for  a  woman's  feet. 
She  shivered  with  cold,  and  had  to  put  on  a  cloak. 

Madame  Evangelista's  manner  and  that  of  the  young  couple 
gave  rise  to  comments  among  the  elegant  crowd  that  stood 
round  the  altar. 

"  Solonet  tells  me  that  the  young  people  go  off  to  Paris  to- 
morrow morning  alone." 

"  Madame  Evangelista  was  to  have  gone  to  live  with  them." 

"  Count  Paul  has  got  rid  of  her  ?  " 

"What  a  mistake!"  said  the  Marquise  de  Gyas.  "The 
man  who  shuts  his  door  on  his  mother-in-law  opens  it  to  a 
lover.  Does  he  not  know  all  that  a  mother  is? " 

"He  has  been  very  hard  on  Madame  Evangelista.     The 
poor  woman  has  had  to  sell  her  house,  and  is  going  to  live  at 
Lanstrac." 
27 


418  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

"  Natalie  is  very  unhappy." 

"  Well,  would  you  like  to  spend  the  day  after  your  wedding 
on  the  highway?" 

"It  is  very  uncomfortable." 

"  I  am  glad  I  came,"  said  another  lady,  "  to  convince  my- 
self of  the  necessity  of  surrounding  a  wedding  with  all  the 
usual  ceremonies  and  festivities,  for  this  seems  to  me  very 
cold  and  dismal.  Indeed,  if  I  were  to  tell  the  whole  truth," 
she  whispered,  leaning  over  to  her  neighbor,  "it  strikes  me 
as  altogether  uncanny." 

Madame  Evangelista  took  Natalie  in  her  own  carriage  to 
Count  Paul's  house. 

"  Well,  mother,  it  is  all  over " 

"  Remember  my  advice,  and  you  will  be  happy.  Always 
be  his  wife,  and  not  his  mistress." 

When  Natalie  had  gone  to  her  room,  Madame  Evangelista 
went  through  the  little  farce  of  throwing  herself  into  her  son- 
in-law's  arms,  and  weeping  on  his  shoulder.  It  was  the  only 
provincial  detail  Madame  Evangelista  had  allowed  herself; 
but  she  had  her  reasons.  In  the  midst  of  her  apparently  wild 
and  desperate  tears  and  speeches,  she  extracted  from  Paul 
such  concessions  as  a  husband  will  always  make. 

The  next  day  she  saw  the  young  people  into  their  chaise, 
and  accompanied  them  across  the  ferry  over  the  Gironde. 
Natalie,  in  a  word,  had  made  her  mother  understand  that 
if  Paul  had  won  in  the  game  concerning  the  contract,  her 
revenge  was  beginning.  Natalie  had  already  reduced  her 
husband  to  perfect  obedience. 

CONCLUSION. 

Five  years  after  this,  one  afternoon  in  November,  the  Comte 
Paul  de  Manerville,  wrapped  in  a  cloak,  with  a  bowed  head, 
mysteriously  arrived  at  the  house  of  Monsieur  Mathias  at 
Bordeaux.  The  worthy  man,  too  old  now  to  attend  business, 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  419 

had  sold  his  connection,  and  was  peacefully  ending  his  days 
in  one  of  his  houses.  % 

Important  business  had  taken  him  out  at  the  time  when  his 
visitor  called ;  but  his  old  housekeeper,  warned  of  Paul's  ad- 
vent, showed  him  into  the  room  that  had  belonged  to  Ma- 
dame Mathias,  who  had  died  a  year  since. 

Paul,  tired  out  by  a  hurried  journey,  slept  till  late.  The 
old  man,  on  his  return,  came  to  look  at  his  erstwhile  client, 
and  was  satisfied  to  look  at  him  lying  asleep,  as  a  mother  looks 
at  her  child.  Josette,  the  housekeeper,  came  in  with  her 
master  and  stood  by  the  bedside,  her  hands  on  her  hips. 

"This  day  twelvemonth,  Josette,  when  my  dear  wife 
breathed  her  last  in  this  bed,  I  little  thought  of  seeing  Mon- 
sieur le  Comte  here  looking  like  death." 

"  Poor  gentleman  !  he  groans  in  his  sleep,"  said  Josette. 

The  old  lawyer  made  no  reply  but  "Sat  a  papier!"  an 
innocent  oath,  which,  from  him,  always  represented  the  de- 
spair of  a  man  of  business  in  the  face  of  some  insuperable 
dilemma. 

"At  any  rate,"  thought  he,  "I  have  saved  the  freehold  of 
Lanstrac,  Auzac,  Saint-Froult,  and  his  town-house  here." 

Mathias  counted  on  his  fingers  and  exclaimed :  "  Five 
years !  Yes,  it  is  five  years  this  very  month  since  his  old 
aunt,  now  deceased,  the  venerable  Madame  de  Maulincour, 
asked  on  his  behalf  for  the  hand  of  that  little  crocodile  in 
woman's  skirts  who  has  managed  to  ruin  him — as  I  knew  she 
would!" 

After  looking  at  the  young  man  for  some  time,  the  good 
old  man,  now  very  gouty,  went  away,  leaning  on  his  stick,  to 
walk  slowly  up  and  down  his  little  garden.  At  nine  o'clock 
supper  was  served,  for  the  old  man  supped ;  and  he  was  not  a 
little  surprised  to  see  Paul  come  in  with  a  calm  brow  and  an 
unruffled  expression,  though  perceptibly  altered.  Though  at 
three-and-thirty  the  Comte  de  Manerville  looked  forty,  the 
change  was  due  solely  to  mental  shocks ;  physically  he  was  in 


420  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

good  health.  He  went  up  to  his  old  friend,  took  his  hands, 
and  pressed  them  affectionately,  saying : 

"  Dear,  good  Maitre  Mathias !  And  you  have  had  your 
troubles  !  " 

"  Mine  were  in  the  course  of  nature,  Monsieur  le  Comte, 
but  yours " 

"We  will  talk  over  mine  presently  at  supper,"  replied  de 
Manerville. 

"If  I  had  not  a  son  high  up  in  the  law,  and  a  married 
'daughter,"  said  the  worthy  man,  "believe  me,  Monsieur  le 
Comte,  you  would  have  found  something  more  than  bare 
hospitality  from  old  Mathias.  How  is  it  that  you  have  come 
to  Bordeaux  just  at  the  time  when  you  may  read  on  every  wall 
bills  announcing  the  seizure  and  sale  of  the  farms  of  le  Grassol 
and  le  Guadet,  of  the  vine-land  of  Bellerose  and  your  house 
here  ?  I  cannot  possibly  express  my  grief  on  seeing  those  huge 
posters — I,  who  for  forty  years  took  as  much  care  of  your 
estates  as  if  they  were  my  own  ;  I,  who,  when  I  was  third 
clerk  under  Monsieur  Chesneau,  my  predecessor,  transacted 
the  purchase  for  your  mother,  and  in  my  young  clerk's  hand 
engrossed  the  deed  of  sale  on  parchment ;  I,  who  have  the 
title-deeds  safe  in  my  successor's  office ;  I,  who  made  out  all 
the  accounts.  Why,  I  remember  you  when  so  high —  "  and 
the  old  man  held  his  hand  two  feet  from  the  floor. 

"  After  being  a  notary  for  more  than  forty  years,  to  see  my 
name  printed  as  large  as  life  in  the  face  of  Israel,  in  the 
announcement  of  the  seizure  and  the  disposal  of  the  property 
— you  cannot  imagine  the  pain  it  gives  me.  As  I  go  along 
the  street  and  see  the  folk  all  reading  those  horrible  yellow 
bills,  I  am  as  much  ashamed  as  if  my  own  ruin  and  honor 
were  involved.  And  there  are  a  pack  of  idiots  who  spell  it 
all  out  at  the  top  of  their  voices  on  purpose  to  attract  idlers, 
and  they  add  the  most  ridiculous  comments. 

"Are  you  not  master  of  your  own?  Your  father  ran 
through  two  fortunes  before  making  the  one  he  left  you,  and 


A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  421 

you  would  not  be  a  Manerville  if  you  did  not  tread  in  his 
steps. 

"And  beside,  the  seizure  of  real  property  is  foreseen  in  the 
Code,  and  provided  for  under  a  special  capitulum  ;  you  are  in 
a  position  recognized  by  law.  If  I  were  not  a  white-headed 
old  man,  only  waiting  for  a  nudge  to  push  me  into  the  grave, 
I  would  thrash  the  men  who  stand  staring  at  such  abomina- 
tions— 'At  the  suit  of  Madame  Natalie  Evangelista,  wife  of 
Paul  Francois  Joseph  Comte  de  Manerville,  of  separate  estate 
by  the  ruling  of  the  lower  Court  of  the  Department  of  the 
Seine,'  and  so  forth." 

"Yes,"  said  Paul,  "and  now  separate  in  bed  and 
board " 

"  Indeed  !  "  said  the  old  man. 

"  Oh  !  against  Natalie's  will,"  said  the  count  quickly.  "  I 
had  to  deceive  her.  She  does  not  know  that  I  am  going 
away." 

"  Going  away?" 

"  My  passage  is  taken ;  I  sail  on  the  Belle- Amelie  for  Cal- 
cutta." 

"  In  two  days  !  "  said  Mathias.  "  Then  we  meet  no  more, 
Monsieur  le  Comte." 

"  You  are  but  seventy-three,  my  dear  Mathias,  and  you  have 
the  gout,  an  assurance  of  old  age.  When  I  come  back  I  shall  find 
you  just  where  you  are.  Your  sound  brain  and  heart  will  be 
as  good  as  ever  ;  you  will  help  me  to  rebuild  the  ruined  home. 
I  mean  to  make  a  fine  fortune  in  seven  years.  On  my  return 
I  shall  only  be  forty.  At  that  age  everything  is  still  pos- 
sible." 

"You,  Monsieur  le  Comte!  "  exclaimed  Mathias,  with  a 
gesture  of  amazement.  "  You  are  going  into  trade  !  What 
are  you  thinking  of?" 

"  I  am  no  longer  Monsieur  le  Comte,  dear  Mathias.  I  have 
taken  my  passage  in  the  name  of  Camille,  a  Christian  name  of 
my  mother's.  And  I  have  some  connections  which  may 


422  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

enable  me  to  make  a  fortune  in  other  ways.  Trade  will  be  my 
last  resource.  Also,  I  am  starting  with  a  large  enough 
sum  of  money  to  allow  of  my  tempting  fortune  on  a  grand 
scale." 

"Where  is  that  money?" 

"A  friend  will  send  it  to  me." 

The  old  man  dropped  his  fork  at  the  sound  of  the  word 
friend,  not  out  of  irony  or  surprise ;  his  face  expressed  his 
grief  at  finding  Paul  under  the  influence  of  a  delusion,  for 
his  eye  saw  a  void  where  the  count  perceived  a  solid  plank. 

"I  have  been  in  a  notary's  office  more  than  fifty  years," 
said  he,  "and  I  never  knew  a  ruined  man  who  had  friends 
willing  to  lend  him  money." 

"  You  do  not  know  de  Marsay.  At  this  minute,  while  I 
speak  to  you,  I  am  perfectly  certain  that  he  has  sold  out  of  the 
Funds  if  it  was  necessary,  and  to-morrow  you  will  receive  a  bill 
of  exchange  for  fifty  thousand  crowns." 

"  I  only  hope  so.  But  then  could  not  this  friend  have  set 
your  affairs  straight  ?  You  could  have  lived  quietly  at  Lan- 
strac  for  five  or  six  years  on  Madame  la  Comtesse's  income." 

"And  would  an  assignment  have  paid  fifteen  hundred  thou- 
sand francs  of  debts,  of  which  my  wife's  share  was  five  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand?" 

"And  how,  in  four  years,  have  you  managed  to  owe  fourteen 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs?" 

"  Nothing  can  be  plainer,  my  good  friend.  Did  I  not  make 
the  diamonds  a  present  to  my  wife  ?  Did  I  not  spend  the 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  that  came  to  us  from  the 
sale  of  Madame  Evangelista's  house  in  redecorating  my  house 
in  Paris?  Had  I  not  to  pay  the  price  of  the  land  we  pur- 
chased, and  of  the  legal  business  of  my  marriage-contract? 
Finally,  had  I  not  to  sell  Natalie's  forty  thousand  francs  a  year 
in  the  Funds  to  pay  for  d' Auzac  and  Saint-Froult  ?  We  sold 
at  87,  so  I  was  in  debt  about  two  hundred  thousand  francs 
within  a  month  of  my  marriage. 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  423 

"An  income  was  left  of  sixty-seven  thousand  francs,  and 
we  have  regularly  spent  two  hundred  thousand  francs  a  year 
beyond  it.  To  these  nine  hundred  thousand  francs  add  cer- 
tain money-lenders'  interest,  and  you  will  easily  find  it  a 
million." 

"  Brrrr,"  said  the  old  lawyer.     "  And  then  ?  " 

"Well,  I  wished  at  once  to  make  up  the  set  of  jewels  for 
my  wife,  of  which  she  already  had  the  pearl  necklace  and  the 
Discrete  clasp — a  family  jewel — and  her  mother's  earrings.  I 
paid  a  hundred  thousand  francs  for  a  diadem  of  wheat-ears. 
There  you  see  eleven  hundred  thousand  francs.  Then  I  owe 
my  wife  the  whole  of  her  fortune,  amounting  to  three  hundred 
and  fifty-six  thousand  francs  settled  on  her." 

"But  then,"  said  Mathias,  "if  Madame  la  Comtesse  had 
pledged  her  diamonds  and  you  your  securities,  you  would 
have,  by  my  calculations,  three  hundred  thousand  with  which 
to  pacify  your  creditors " 

"When  a  man  is  down,  Mathias;  when  his  estates  are 
loaded  with  mortgages ;  when  his  wife  is  the  first  creditor  for 
her  settlement ;  when,  to  crown  all,  he  is  exposed  to  having 
writs  against  him  for  notes  of  hand  to  the  tune  of  a  hundred 
thousand  francs — to  be  paid  off,  I  hope,  by  good  prices  at  the 
sales — nothing  can  be  done.  And  the  cost  of  conveyancing  !  " 

"  Frightful !  "  said  the  lawyer. 

"The  distraint  has  happily  taken  the  form  of  a  voluntary 
sale,  which  will  mitigate  the  flare." 

"And  you  are  selling  Bellerose  with  the  wines  of  1825  in 
the  cellars?" 

"  I  cannot  help  myself." 

"Bellerose  is  worth  six  hundred  thousand  francs." 

"Natalie  will  buy  it  in  by  my  advice." 

"  Sixteen  thousand  francs  in  ordinary  years — and  such  a 
season  as  1825  !  I  will  run  Bellerose  up  to  seven  hundred 
thousand  francs  myself,  and  each  of  the  farms  up  to  a  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand." 


424  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

" So  much  the  better;  then  I  can  clear  myself  if  my  house 
in  the  town  fetches  two  hundred  thousand." 

"  Solonet  will  pay  a  little  more  for  it ;  he  has  a  fancy  for  it. 
He  is  retiring  on  a  hundred-odd  thousand  a  year,  which  he 
has  made  in  gambling  in  trois-six.  He  has  sold  his  business 
for  three  hundred  thousand  francs,  and  is  marrying  a  rich 
mulatto.  Gods  knows  where  she  got  her  money,  but  they 
say  she  has  millions.  A  notary  gambling  in  trois-six !  A 
notary  marrying  a  mulatto  !  What  times  these  are  !  It  was 
he,  they  say,  who  looked  after  your  mother-in-law's  invest- 
ments." 

"  She  has  greatly  improved  Lanstrac,  and  taken  good  care 
of  the  land  ;  she  has  regularly  paid  her  rent." 

"  I  should  never  have  believed  her  capable  of  behaving  so." 

"She  is  so  kind  and  devoted.  She  always  paid  Natalie's 
debts  when  she  came  to  spend  three  months  in  Paris." 

"So  she  very  well  might,  she  lives  on  Lanstrac,"  said 
Mathias.  "She!  Turned  thrifty  !  What  a  miracle  !  She  has 
just  bought  the  estate  of  Grainrouge,  lying  between  Lanstrac 
and  Grassol,  so  that  if  she  prolongs  the  avenue  from  Lanstrac 
down  to  the  high  road  you  can  drive  a  league  and  a  half 
through  your  own  grounds.  She  paid  a  hundred  thousand 
francs  down  for  Grainrouge,  which  is  worth  a  thousand  crowns 
a  year  in  cash  rents." 

"She  is  still  handsome,"  said  Paul.  "  Country  life  keeps 
her  young.  I  will  not  go  to  take  leave  of  her ;  she  would 
bleed  herself  for  me." 

"You  would  waste  your  time;  she  has  gone  to  Paris.  She 
probably  arrived  just  as  you  left." 

"  She  has,  of  course,  heard  of  the  sale  of  the  land,  and  has 
rushed  to  my  assistance.  I  have  no  right  to  complain  of  life. 
I  am  loved  as  well  as  any  man  can  be  in  this  world,  loved  by 
two  women  who  vie  with  each  other  in  their  devotion  to  me. 
They  were  jealous  of  each  other ;  the  daughter  reproached  her 
mother  for  being  too  fond  of  me,  and  the  mother  found  fault 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  425 

with  her  daughter  for  her  extravagance.  This  affection  has 
been  my  ruin.  How  can  a  man  help  gratifying  the  lightest 
wish  of  the  woman  he  loves?  How  can  he  protect  himself? 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  how  can  he  accept  self-sacrifice? 
We  could,  to  be  sure,  pay  up  with  my  fortune  and  come  to 
live  at  Lanstrac — but  I  would  rather  go  to  India  and  make 
my  fortune  than  tear  Natalie  from  the  life  she  loVes.  It  was 
I  myself  who  proposed  to  her  a  separation  of  goods.  Women 
are  angels  who  ought  never  to  be  mixed  up  with  the  business 
of  life." 

Old  Mathias  listened  to  Paul  with  an  expression  of  surprise 
and  doubt. 

"  You  have  no  children  ?  "  said  he. 

"  Happily !  "  replied  Paul. 

"Well,  I  view  marriage  in  a  different  light,"  replied  the 
old  notary  quite  simply.  "  In  my  opinion,  a  wife  ought  to 
share  her  husband's  lot  for  good  or  ill.  I  have  heard  that 
young  married  people  who  are  too  much  like  lovers  have  no 
families.  Is  pleasure  then  the  only  end  of  marriage  ?  Is  it 
not  rather  the  happiness  of  family  life  ?  Still,  you  were  but 
eight-and-twenty  and  the  countess  no  more  than  twenty;  it 
was  excusable  that  you  should  think  only  of  love-making.  At 
the  same  time,  the  terms  of  your  marriage-contract,  and  your 
name — you  will  think  me  grossly  lawyer-like — required  you 
to  begin  by  having  a  fine  handsome  boy.  Yes,  Monsieur  le 
Comte,  and  if  you  had  daughters,  you  ought  not  to  have 
stopped  till  you  had  a  male  heir  to  succeed  you  in  the  en- 
tail. 

"  Was  Mademoiselle  Evangelista  delicate  ?  Was  there  any- 
thing to  fear  for  her  in  motherhood  ?  You  will  say  that  is 
very  old-fashioned  and  antiquated;  but  in  noble  families, 
Monsieur  le  Comte,  a  legitimate  wife  ought  to  have  children 
and  bring  them  up  well.  As  the  Duchesse  de  Sully  said — the 
wife  of  the  great  Sully — a  wife  is  not  a  means  of  pleasure,  but 
the  honor  and  virtue  of  the  household." 


426  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"You  do  not  know  what  women  are,  my  dear  Mathias," 
said  Paul.  "  To  be  happy,  a  man  must  love  his  wife  as  she 
chooses  to  be  loved.  And  is  it  not  rather  brutal  to  deprive  a 
woman  so  early  of  her  charms  and  spoil  her  beauty  before  she 
has  really  enjoyed  it?" 

"  If  you  had  had  a  family,  the  mother  would  have  checked 
the  wife's  dissipation  ;  she  would  more  than  likely  have  stayed 

at  home " 

/  "If  you  were  in  the  right,  my  good  friend,"  said  Paul, 
with  a  frown,  "  I  should  be  still  more  unhappy.  Do  not 
aggravate  my  misery  by  moralizing  over  my  ruin ;  let  me  de- 
part without  any  after  bitterness." 

Next  day  Mathias  received  a  bill  payable  at  sight  for  a 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs,  signed  by  de  Marsay. 

"You  see,"  said  Paul,  "he  does  not  write  me  a  word. 
Henri's  is  the  most  perfectly  imperfect,  the  most  unconven- 
tionally noble  nature  I  have  ever  met  with.  If  you  could  but 
know  how  superior  this  man — who  is  still  young — rises  above 
feeling  and  interest,  and  what  a  great  politician  he  is,  you, 
like  me,  would  be  amazed  to  find  what  a  warm  heart  he 
has." 

Mathias  tried  to  reason  Paul  out  of  his  purpose,  but  it 
was  irrevocable,  and  justified  by  so  many  practical  reasons, 
that  the  old  notary  made  no  further  attempt  to  detain  his 
client. 

Rarely  enough  does  a  vessel  in  cargo  sail  punctually  to  the 
day ;  but  by  an  accident  disastrous  to  Paul,  the  wind  being 
favorable,  the  Belle-Amelie  was  to  sail  on  the  morrow.  At 
the  moment  of  departure  the  landing-stage  is  always  crowded 
with  relations,  friends,  and  idlers.  Among  these,  as  it  hap- 
pened, were  several  personally  acquainted  with  Manerville. 
His  ruin  had  made  him  as  famous  now  as  he  had  once  been 
for  his  fortune,  so  there  was  a  stir  of  curiosity.  Every  one 
had  some  remark  to  make. 


A  -MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  427 

The  old  man  had  escorted  Paul  to  the  wharf,  and  he  must 
have  suffered  keenly  as  he  heard  some  of  the  comments. 

"Who  would  recognize  in  the  man  you  see  there  with  old 
Mathias  the  dandy  who  used  to  be  called  Sweet-pea,  and 
who  was  the  oracle  of  fashion  here  at  Bordeaux  five  years 
since?" 

"  What,  can  that  fat  little  man  in  an  alpaca  overcoat,  look- 
ing like  a  coachman,  be  the  Comte  Paul  de  Manerville?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  the  man  who  married  Mademoiselle  Evange- 
lista.  There  he  is  ruined,  without  a  sou  to  his  name,  going 
to  the  Indies  to  look  for  the  roc's  egg." 

"  But  how  was  he  ruined?     He  was  so  rich  !  " 

"  Paris — women — the  Bourse — gambling — display " 

"  And  beside,"  said  another,  "  Manerville  is  a  poor  creature ; 
he  has  no  sense,  as  limp  as  wet-paper,  allowing  himself  to  be 
fleeced,  and  incapable  of  any  decisive  action.  He  was  born 
to  be  ruined." 

Paul  shook  his  old  friend's  hand  and  took  refuge  on  board. 
Mathias  stood  on  the  quay,  looking  at  his  old  client,  who 
leaned  over  the  netting,  defying  the  crowd  with  a  look  of 
scorn. 

Just  as  the  anchor  was  weighed,  Paul  saw  that  Mathias  was 
signaling  to  him  by  waving  his  handkerchief.  The  old 
housekeeper  had  come  in  hot  haste,  and  was  standing  by  her 
master,  who  seemed  greatly  excited  by  some  matter  of  im- 
portance. Paul  persuaded  the  captain  to  wait  a  few  minutes 
and  send  a  boat  to  land,  that  he  might  know  what  the  old 
lawyer  wanted ;  he  was  signaling  vigorously,  evidently  de- 
siring him  to  disembark.  Mathias,  too  infirm  to  go  to  the 
ship,  gave  two  letters  to  one  of  the  sailors  who  were  in  the 
boat. 

"  My  good  fellow,"  said  the  old  notary,  showing  one  of  the 
letters  to  the  sailor,  "  this  letter,  mark  it  well,  make  no  mis- 
take— this  packet  has  just  been  delivered  by  a  messenger  who 
has  ridden  from  Paris  in  thirty-five  hours.  Explain  this  clearly 


428  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

to  Monsieur  le  Corate,  do  not  forget.  It  might  make  him 
change  his  plans." 

"  And  we  should  have  to  land  him  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  the  lawyer  rashly. 

The  sailor  in  most  parts  of  the  world  is  a  creature  apart, 
professing  the  deepest  contempt  for  all  landlubbers.  As  to 
townsfolk,  he  cannot  understand  them ;  he  knows  nothing 
about  them ;  he  laughs  them  to  scorn ;  he  cheats  them  if  he 
can  without  direct  dishonesty.  This  one,  as  it  happened,  was 
a  man  of  Lower  Brittany,  who  saw  worthy  old  Mathias'  in- 
structions in  only  one  light. 

"Just  so,"  he  muttered,  as  he  took  his  oar,  "land  him 
again  !  The  captain  is  to  lose  a  passenger !  If  we  listened 
to  these  landlubbers,  we  should  spend  our  lives  in  pulling 
them  between  the  ship  and  shore.  Is  he  afraid  his  son  will 
take  cold?" 

So  the  sailor  gave  Paul  the  letters  without  any  message. 
On  recognizing  his  wife's  writing  and  de  Marsay's,  Paul 
imagined  all  that  either  of  them  could  have  to  say  to  him ; 
and  being  determined  not  to  risk  being  influenced  by  the 
offers  that  might  be  inspired  by  their  regard,  he  put  the  letters 
in  his  pocket  with  apparent  indifference. 

"And  that  is  the  rubbish  we  are  kept  waiting  for  !  What 
nonsense !  "  said  the  sailor  to  the  captain,  in  his  broad 
Breton.  "If  the  matter  were  as  important  as  that  old  guy 
declared,  would  Monsieur  le  Comte  drop  the  papers  into  his 
scuppers  ?  ' ' 

Paul,  lost  in  the  dismal  reflections  that  come  over  the 
strongest  man  in  such  circumstances,  gave  himself  up  to 
melancholy,  while  he  waved  his  hand  to  his  old  friend,  and 
bade  farewell  to  France,  watching  the  fast-disappearing  build- 
ings of  Bordeaux. 

He  presently  sat  down  on  a  coil  of  rope,  and  there  night 
found  him,  lost  in  meditation.  Doubt  came  upon  him  as 
twilight  fell ;  he  gazed  anxiously  into  the  future ;  he  could  see 


A   MARRIAGE  S&TTLEMENT.  429 

nothing  before  him  but  perils  and  uncertainty,  and  wondered 
whether  his  courage  might  not  fail  him.  He  felt  some  vague 
alarm  as  he  thought  of  Natalie  left  to  herself;  he  repented  of 
his  decision,  regretting  Paris  and  his  past  life. 

Then  he  fell  a  victim  to  sea-sickness.  Every  one  knows 
the  miseries  of  this  condition,  and  one  of  the  worst  features 
of  its  sufferings  is  the  total  effacement  of  will  that  accompa- 
nies it.  An  inexplicable  incapacity  loosens  all  the  bonds  of 
vitality  at  the  core ;  the  mind  refuses  to  act,  and  everything 
is  a  matter  of  total  indifference — a  mother  can  forget  her 
child,  a  lover  his  mistress;  the  strongest  man  becomes  a  mere 
inert  mass.  Paul  was  carried  to  his  berth,  where  he  remained 
for  three  days,  alternately  violently  ill,  and  plied  with  grog 
by  the  sailors,  thinking  of  nothing  or  sleeping ;  then  he  went 
through  a  sort  of  convalescence  and  recovered  his  ordinary 
health. 

On  the  trorning  when,  finding  himself  better,  he  went  for  a 
walk  on  deck  to  breathe  the  sea-air  of  a  more  southern  climate, 
on  putting  his  hands  in  his  pockets  he  felt  his  letters.  He  at 
once  took  them  out  to  read  them,  and  began  by  Natalie's.  In 
order  that  the  Comtesse  de  Manerville's  letter  may  be  fully 
understood,  it  is  necessary  first  to  give  that  written  by  Paul 
to  his  wife  on  leaving  Paris. 

PAUL   DE   MANERVILLE   TO   HIS   WIFE. 

"  MY  BEST  BELOVED  : — When  you  read  this  letter  I  shall  be 
far  from  you,  probably  on  the  vessel  that  is  to  carry  me  to 
India,  where  I  am  going  to  repair  my  shattered  fortune.  I 
did  not  feel  that  I  had  the  courage  to  tell  you  of  my  departure. 
I  have  deceived  you ;  but  was  it  not  necessary  ?  You  would 
have  pinched  yourself  to  no  purpose,  you  would  have  wished 
to  sacrifice  your  own  fortune.  Dear  Natalie,  feel  no  remorse ; 
I  shall  know  no  repentance.  When  I  return  with  millions,  I 
will  imitate  your  father ;  I  will  lay  them  at  your  feet  as  he  laid 
his  at  your  mother's,  and  will  say,  '  It  is  all  yours.' 


430  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

"  I  love  you  to  distraction,  Natalie ;  and  I  can  say  so  with- 
out fearing  that  you  will  make  my  avowal  a  pretext  for  exerting 
a  power  which  only  weak  men  dread.  Yours  was  unlimited 
from  the  first  day  I  ever  saw  you.  My  love  alone  has  led  me 
to  disaster ;  my  gradual  ruin  has  brought  me  the  delirious  joys 
of  the  gambler.  As  my  money  diminished  my  happiness  grew 
greater ;  each  fraction  of  my  wealth  converted  into  some  little 
gratification  to  you  caused  me  heavenly  rapture.  I  could  have 
wished  you  to  have  more  caprices  than  you  ever  had. 

"  I  knew  that  I  was  marching  to  an  abyss,  but  I  went,  my 
brow  wreathed  with  joys  and  feelings  unknown  to  vulgar  souls. 
I  acted  like  the  lovers  who  shut  themselves  up  for  a  year  or 
two  in  a  cottage  by  a  lake,  vowing  to  kill  themselves  after 
plunging  into  the  ocean  of  happiness,  dying  in  all  the  glory 
of  their  illusions  and  their  passion.  I  have  always  thought 
such  persons  eminently  rational.  You  have  never  known  any- 
thing of  my  pleasures  or  of  my  sacrifices.  And  is  there  not 
exquisite  enjoyment  in  concealing  from  the  one  we  love  the 
cost  of  the  things  she  wishes  for? 

"  I  may  tell  you  these  secrets  now.  I  shall  be  far  indeed 
away  when  you  hold  this  sheet  loaded  with  my  love.  Though 
I  forego  the  pleasure  of  your  gratitude,  I  do  not  feel  that 
clutch  at  my  heart  which  would  seize  me  if  I  tried  to  talk  of 
these  things.  Alas,  my  dearest,  there  is  deep  self-interest  in 
thus  revealing  the  past.  Is  it  not  to  add  to  the  volume  of  our 
love  in  the  future  ?  Could  it  indeed  ever  need  such  a  stimu- 
lus? Do  we  not  feel  that  pure  affection  to  which  proof  is 
needless,  which  scorns  time  and  distance,  and  lives  in  its  own 
strength  ? 

"Ah  !  Natalie,  I  just  now  left  the  table  where  I  am  writing 
by  the  fire,  and  looked  at  you  asleep,  calm  and  trustful,  in  the 
attitude  of  a  guileless  child,  your  hand  lying  where  I  could 
take  it.  I  left  a  tear  on  the  pillow  that  has  been  the  witness 
of  our  happiness.  I  leave  you  without  a  fear  on  the  promise 
of  that  attitude;  I  leave  you  to  win  peace  by  winning  a  fortune 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  431 

so  large  that  no  anxiety  may  ever  disturb  our  joys,  and  that 
you  may  satisfy  your  every  wish.  Neither  you  nor  I  could 
ever  dispense  with  the  luxuries  of  the  life  we  lead.  I  am  a 
man,  and  I  have  courage ;  mine  alone  be  the  task  of  amassing 
the  fortune  we  require. 

"  You  might  perhaps  think  of  following  me  !  I  will  not  tell 
you  the  name  of  the  ship,  nor  the  port  I  sail  from,  nor  the  day 
I  leave.  A  friend  will  tell  you  when  it  is  too  late. 

"  Natalie,  my  devotion  to  you  is  boundless  ;  I  love  you  as  a 
mother  loves  her  child,  as  a  lover  worships  his  mistress,  with 
perfect  disinterestedness.  The  work  be  mine,  the  enjoyment 
yours ;  mine  the  sufferings,  yours  the  life  of  happiness.  Amuse 
yourself;  keep  up  all  your  habits  of  luxury ;  go  to  the  Italiens, 
to  the  French  opera,  into  society  and  to  balls ;  I  absolve  you 
beforehand.  But,  dear  angel,  each  time  you  come  home  to 
the  nest  where  we  have  enjoyed  the  fruits  that  have  ripened 
during  our  five  years  of  love,  remember  your  lover,  think  of 
me  for  a  moment,  and  sleep  in  my  heart.  That  is  all  I  ask. 

"  I — my  one,  dear,  constant  thought — when,  under  scorch- 
ing skies,  working  for  our  future,  I  find  some  obstacle  to  over- 
come, or  when,  tired  out,  I  rest  in  the  hope  of  my  return — I 
shall  think  of  you  who  are  the  beauty  of  my  life.  Yes,  I  shall 
try  to  live  in  you,  telling  myself  that  you  have  neither  cares 
nor  uneasiness.  Just  as  life  is  divided  into  day  and  night, 
waking  and  sleeping,  so  I  shall  have  my  life  of  enchantment 
in  Paris,  my  life  of  labors  in  India — a  dream  of  anguish,  a 
reality  of  delight ;  I  shall  live  so  completely  in  what  is  real  to 
you  that  my  days  will  be  the  dream.  I  have  my  memories ; 
canto  by  canto  I  shall  recall  the  lovely  poem  of  five  years ;  I 
shall  remember  the  days  when  you  chose  to  be  dazzling,  when 
by  some  perfection  of  evening-dress  or  morning-wrapper  you 
made  yourself  new  in  my  eyes.  I  shall  taste  on  my  lips  the 
flavor  of  our  little  feasts. 

"  Yes,  dear  angel,  I  am  going  like  a  man  pledged  to  some 
high  emprise  when  by  success  he  is  to  win  his  mistress  !  To 


432  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

me  the  past  will  be  like  the  dreams  of  desire  which  anticipate 
realization,  and  which  realization  often  disappoints.  But  you 
have  always  more  than  fulfilled  them.  And  I  shall  return  to 
find  a  new  wife,  for  will  not  absence  lend  you  fresh  charms? 
Oh,  my  dear  love,  my  Natalie,  let  me  be  a  religion  to  you. 
Be  always  the  child  I  have  seen  sleeping  !  If  you  were  to  be- 
tray my  blind  confidence — Natalie,  you  would  not  have  to 
fear  my  anger,  of  that  you  may  be  sure ;  I  should  die  without 
a  word.  But  a  woman  does  not  deceive  the  husband  who 
leaves  her  free,  for  women  are  never  mean.  She  may  cheat  a 
tyrant ;  but  she  does  not  care  for  the  easy  treason  which  would 
deal  a  death-blow.  No,  I  cannot  imagine  such  a  thing — for- 
give me  for  this  cry,  natural  to  a  man. 

"  My  dearest,  you  will  see  de  Marsay ;  he  is  now  the  tenant 
holding  our  house,  and  he  will  leave  you  in  it.  This  lease  to 
him  was  necessary  to  avoid  useless  loss.  My  creditors,  not 
understanding  that  payment  is  merely  a  question  of  time, 
might  have  seized  the  furniture  and  the  amount  of  the  rent  of 
the  house.  Be  good  to  de  Marsay ;  I  have  the  most  perfect 
confidence  in  his  abilities  and  in  his  honor.  Make  him  your 
advocate  and  your  adviser,  your  familiar.  Whatever  his  en- 
gagements may  be,  he  will  always  be  at  your  service.  I  have 
instructed  him  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  liquidation  of  my  debts ; 
if  he  should  advance  a  sum  of  which  he  presently  needed  the 
use,  I  trust  to  you  to  pay  him.  Remember  I  am  not  leaving 
you  to  de  Marsay's  guidance,  but  to  your  own  ;  when  I  men- 
tion him,  I  do  not  force  him  upon  you. 

"Alas,  I  cannot  begin  to  write  on  business  matters;  only 
an  hour  remains  to  me  under  the  same  roof  with  you.  I 
count  your  breathing ;  I  try  to  picture  your  thoughts  from  the 
occasional  changes  in  your  sleep,  your  breathing  revives  the 
flowery  hours  of  our  early  love.  At  every  throb  of  your  heart 
mine  goes  forth  to  you  with  all  its  wealth,  and  I  scatter  over 
you  the  petals  of  the  roses  of  my  soul,  as  children  strew  them 
in  front  of  the  altars  on  Corpus  Christi  Day.  I  commend 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  433 

you  to  the  memories  I  am  pouring  out  on  you  ;  I  would,  if  I 
could,  pour  my  life-blood  into  your  veins  that  you  might 
indeed  be  mine,  that  your  heart  might  be  my  heart,  your 
thoughts  my  thoughts,  that  I  might  be  wholly  in  you  !  And 
you  utter  a  little  murmur  as  if  in  reply  ! 

"  Be  ever  as  calm  and  lovely  as  you  are  at  this  moment.  I 
would  I  had  the  fabled  power  of  which  we  hear  in  fairy  tales, 
and  could  leave  you  thus  to  sleep  during  my  absence,  to  wake 
you  on  my  return  with  a  kiss.  What  energy,  what  love,  must 
I  feel  to  leave  you  when  I  behold  you  thus.  You  are  Spanish 
and  religious ;  you  will  observe  an  oath  taken  even  in  your 
sleep  when  your  unspoken  word  was  believed  in  beyond  a 
doubt. 

"  Farewell,  my  dearest.  Your  hapless  Sweet-pea  is  swept 
away  by  the  storm-wind ;  but  it  will  come  back  to  you  for 
ever  on  the  wings  of  Fortune.  Nay,  dear  Ninie,  I  will  not 
say  farewell,  for  you  will  always  be  with  me.  Will  you  not 
be  the  soul  of  my  actions  ?  Will  not  the  hope  of  bringing 
you  such  happiness  as  cannot  be  wrecked  give  spirit  to  my 
enterprise  and  guide  all  my  steps  ?  Will  you  not  always  be 
present  to  me  ?  No,  it  will  not  be  the  tropical  sun,  but  the 
fire  of  your  eyes,  that  will  light  me  on  my  way. 

"  Be  as  happy  as  a  woman  can  be,  bereft  of  her  lover.  I 
should  have  been  glad  to  .have  a  parting  kiss,  in  which  you 
were  not  merely  passive  ;  but,  my  Ninie,  my  adored  darling, 
I  would  not  awaken  you.  When  you  awake  you  will  find  a 
tear  on  your  brow;  let  it  be  a  talisman.  Think,  oh,  think  of 
him  who  is  perhaps  to  die  for  you,  far  away  from  you ;  think 
of  him  less  as  your  husband  than  as  a  lover  who  worships  you 
and  leaves  you  in  God's  keeping." 

REPLY   FROM   THE   COMTESSE   DE   MANERVILLE   TO 
HER   HUSBAND. 

"  MY  DEAREST  : — What  grief  your  letter  has  brought  me  ! 
Had  you  any  right  to  form  a  decision  which  concerns  us 
28 


434  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

equally  without  consulting  me?  Are  you  free?  Do  you  not 
belong  to  me  ?  And  am  I  not  half  a  creole  ?  Why  should  I 
not  follow  you  ?  You  have  shown  me  that  I  am  no  longer 
indispensable  to  you.  What  have  I  done,  Paul,  that  you 
should  rob  me  of  my  rights?  What  is  to  become  of  me  alone 
in  Paris  ?  Poor  dear,  you  assume  the  blame  for  any  ill  I  may 
have  done.  But  am  I  not  partly  to  blame  for  this  ruin  ? 
Has  not  my  finery  weighed  heavily  in  the  wrong  scale  ? 
You  are  making  me  curse  the  happy,  heedless  life  we  have  led 
these  four  years.  To  think  of  you  as  exiled  for  six  years  !  Is 
it  not  enough  to  kill  me  ?  How  can  you  make  a  fortune  in 
six  years  ?  Will  you  ever  come  back  ?  I  was  wiser  than  I 
knew  when  I  so  strenuously  opposed  the  separate  maintenance 
on  which  you  and  my  mother  so  absolutely  insisted.  What 
did  I  tell  you  ?  That  it  would  expose  you  to  discredit,  that 
it  would  ruin  your  credit !  You  had  to  be  quite  angry  before 
I  would  give  in. 

"  My  dear  Paul,  you  have  never  been  so  noble  in  my  eyes 
as  you  are  at  this  moment.  Without  a  hint  of  despair,  to  set 
out  to  make  a  fortune !  Only  such  a  character,  such  energy 
as  yours  could  take  such  a  step.  I  kneel  at  your  feet.  A  man 
who  confesses  to  weakness  in  such  perfect  good  faith,  who  re- 
stores his  fortune  from  the  same  motive  that  has  led  him  to  waste 
it — for  love,  for  an  irresistible  passion — oh,  Paul,  such  a  man 
is  sublime  !  Go  without  fear,  trample  down  every  obstacle, 
and  never  doubt  your  Natalie,  for  it  would  be  doubting  your- 
self. My  poor  dear,  you  say  you  want  to  live  in  me  ?  And 
shall  not  I  always  live  in  you  ?  I  shall  not  be  here,  but  with 
you  wherever  you  may  be. 

"Though  your  letter  brought  me  cruel  anguish,  it  filled  me 
too  with  joy;  in  one  minute  I  went  through  both  extremes; 
for,  seeing  how  much  you  love  me,  I  was  proud,  too,  to  find 
that  my  love  was  appreciated.  Sometimes  I  have  fancied  that  I 
loved  you  more  than  you  loved  me  ;  now  I  confess  myself 
outdone;  you  may  add  that  delightful  superiority  to  the 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  435 

others  you  possess;  but  have  I  not  many  more  reasons  for 
loving  ?  Your  letter,  the  precious  letter  in  which  your  whole 
soul  is  revealed,  and  which  so  plainly  tells  me  that  between 
you  and  me  nothing  is  lost,  will  dwell  on  my  heart  during 
your  absence,  for  your  whole  soul  is  in  it ;  that  letter  is  my 
glory ! 

"I  am  going  to  live  with  my  mother  at  Lanstrac ;  I  shall 
there  be  dead  to  the  world,  and  shall  save  out  of  my  income 
to  pay  off  your  debts.  From  this  day  forth,  Paul,  I  am  an- 
other woman ;  I  take  leave  for  ever  of  the  world  ;  I  will  not 
have  a  pleasure  that  you  do  not  share. 

"  Beside,  Paul,  I  am  obliged  to  leave  Paris  and  live  in 
solitude.  Dear  boy,  you  have  a  twofold  reason  for  making  a 
fortune.  If  your  courage  needed  a  spur,  you  may  now  find 
another  heart  dwelling  in  your  own.  My  dear,  cannot  you 
guess  ?  We  shall  have  a  child.  Your  dearest  hopes  will  be 
crowned,  monsieur.  I  would  not  give  you  the  deceptive  joys 
which  are  heart-breaking ;  we  have  already  had  so  much  dis- 
appointment on  that  score,  and  I  was  afraid  of  having  to  with- 
draw the  glad  announcement.  But  now  I  am  sure  of  what  I 
am  saying,  and  happy  to  cast  a  gleam  of  joy  over  your  sorrow. 
This  morning,  suspecting  no  evil,  I  had  gone  to  the  Church 
of  the  Assumption  to  return  thanks  to  God.  How  could  I 
foresee  disaster  ?  Everything  seemed  to  smile  on  me.  As  I 
came  out  of  church,  I  met  my  mother ;  she  had  heard  of 
your  distress,  and  had  come  by  post  with  all  her  savings, 
thirty  thousand  francs,  hoping  to  be  able  to  arrange  matters. 
What  a  heart,  Paul  !  I  was  quite  happy ;  I  came  home  to 
tell  you  the  two  pieces  of  good  news  while  we  breakfasted 
under  the  awning  in  the  conservatory,  and  I  had  ordered  all 
the  dainties  you  like  best. 

"  Augustine  gave  me  your  letter.  A  letter  from  you,  when 
we  had  slept  together  !  It  was  a  tragedy  in  itself.  I  was 
seized  with  a  shivering  fit — then  I  read  it — I  read  it  in  tears, 
and  my  mother  too  melted  into  tears.  And  a  woman  must 


436  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

love  a  man  very  much  to  cry  over  him,  crying  makes  us  so 
ugly.  I  was  half-dead.  So  much  love  and  so  much  courage  ! 
So  much  happiness  and  such  great  grief!  To  be  unable  to 
clasp  you  to  my  heart,  my  beloved,  at  the  very  moment  when 
my  admiration  for  your  magnanimity  most  constrained  me ! 
What  woman  could  withstand  such  a  whirlwind  of  emotions  ? 
To  think  that  you  were  far  away  when  your  hand  on  my  heart 
would  have  comforted  me ;  that  you  were  not  there  to  give 
me  the  look  I  love  so  well,  to  rejoice  with  me  over  the  realiza- 
tion of  our  hopes ;  and  I  was  not  with  you  to  soften  your 
sorrow  by  the  affection  which  made  your  loving  Natalie  so 
dear  to  you,  and  which  can  make  you  forget  every  annoyance, 
every  grief! 

"  I  wanted  to  be  off  to  fly  to  your  feet ;  but  my  mother 
pointed  out  that  the  Belle-Amelie  is  to  sail  to-morrow,  that 
only  the  post  could  go  fast  enough  to  overtake  you,  and  that 
it  would  be  the  height  of  folly  to  risk  all  our  future  happiness 
on  a  jolt.  Though  a  mother  already,  I  ordered  horses,  and 
my  mother  cheated  me  into  the  belief  that  they  would  be 
brought  round.  She  acted  wisely,  for  I  was  already  unfit  to 
move.  I  could  not  bear  such  a  combination  of  violent  agita- 
tions, and  I  fainted  away.  I  am  writing  in  bed,  for  I  am 
ordered  perfect  rest  for  some  months.  Hitherto  I  have  been 
a  frivolous  woman,  now  I  mean  to  be  the  mother  of  a  family. 
Providence  is  good  to  me,  for  a  child  to  nurse  and  bring  up 
can  alone  alleviate  the  sorrows  of  your  absence.  In  it  I  shall 
find  a  second  Paul  to  make  much  of.  I  shall  thus  publicly 
flaunt  the  love  we  have  so  carefully  kept  to  ourselves.  I  shall 
tell  the  truth. 

"  My  mother  has  already  had  occasion  to  contradict  certain 
calumnies  which  are  current  as  to  your  conduct.  The  two 
Vandenesses,  Charles  and  Felix,  had  defended  you  stoutly, 
but  your  friend  de  Marsay  makes  game  of  everything;  he 
laughs  at  your  detractors  instead  of  answering  them.  I  do 
not  like  such  levity  in  response  to  serious  attacks.  Are  you 


A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  437 

not  mistaken  in  him?  However,  I  will  obey  and  make  a 
friend  of  him. 

"  Be  quite  easy,  my  dearest,  with  regard  to  anything  that 
may  affect  your  honor.  Is  it  not  mine  ? 

"I  am  about  to  pledge  my  diamonds.  My  mother  and  I 
will  strain  every  resource  to  pay  off  your  debts  and  try  to  buy 
in  the  vine-land  of  Bellerose.  My  mother,  who  is  as  good  a 
man  of  business  as  a  regular  accountant,  blames  you  for  not 
having  been  open  with  her.  She  would  not  then  have  pur- 
chased— thinking  to  give  you  pleasure — the  estate  of  Grfun- 
rouge,  which  cut  in  on  your  lands ;  and  then  she  could  have 
lent  you  a  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  francs.  She  is  in 
despair  at  the  step  you  have  taken,  and  is  afraid  you  will  suffer 
from  the  life  in  India.  She  entreats  you  to  be  temperate,  and 
not  to  be  led  astray  by  the  women  !  I  laughed  in  her  face. 
I  am  as  sure  of  you  as  of  myself.  You  will  come  back  to  me 
wealthy  and  faithful.  I  alone  in  the  world  know  your  womanly 
refinement  and  those  secret  feelings  which  make  you  an  ex- 
quisite human  flower,  worthy  of  heaven.  The  Bordeaux  folk 
had  every  reason  to  give  you  your  pretty  nickname.  And 
who  will  take  care  of  my  delicate  flower  ?  My  heart  is  racked 
by  dreadful  ideas.  I,  his  wife,  his  Natalie,  am  here,  when 
already  perhaps  he  is  suffering  !  I,  so  entirely  one  with  you, 
may  not  share  your  troubles,  your  annoyances,  your  dangers  ? 
In  whom  can  you  confide?  How  can  you  live  without  the 
ear  into  which  you  whisper  everything  ?  Dear,  sensitive  plant, 
swept  away  by  the  gale,  why  should  you  be  transplanted  from 
the  only  soil  in  which  your  fragrance  could  ever  be  developed  ? 
I  feel  as  if  I  had  been  alone  for  two  centuries,  and  I  am  cold 
in  Paris  !  And  I  have  cried  so  long 

"The  cause  of  your  ruin  !  What  a  text  for  the  meditations 
of  a  woman  full  of  love  !  You  have  treated  me  like  a  child, 
to  whom  nothing  is  refused  that  it  asks  for ;  like  a  courtesan, 
for  whom  a  spendthrift  throws  away  his  fortune.  Your  deli- 
cacy, as  you  style  it,  is  an  insult.  Do  you  suppose  that  I  can- 


438  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

not  live  without  fine  clothes,  balls,  operas,  successes  ?  Am  I 
such  a  frivolous  woman  ?  Do  you  think  me  incapable  of  a 
serious  thought,  of  contributing  to  your  fortune  as  much  as  I 
ever  contributed  to  your  pleasures?  If  you  were  not  so  far 
away  and  ill  at  ease,  you  would  here  find  a  good  scolding  for 
your  impertinence.  Can  you  disparage  your  wife  to  such  an 
extent  ?  Bless  me  !  What  did  I  go  out  into  society  for  ?  To 
flatter  your  vanity ;  it  was  for  you  I  dressed,  and  you  know 
it.  If  I  had  been  wrong,  I  should  be  too  cruelly  punished ; 
your  absence  is  a  bitter  expiation  for  our  domestic  happiness. 
That  happiness  was  too  complete ;  it  could  not  fail  to  be  paid 
for  by  some  great  sorrow ;  and  here  it  is  !  After  such  delights, 
so  carefully  screened  from  the  eyes  of  the  curious ;  after  these 
constant  festivities,  varied  only  by  the  secret  madness  of  our 
affection,  there  is  no  alternative  but  solitude.  Solitude,  my 
dear  one,  feeds  great  passions,  and  I  long  for  it.  What  can 
I  do  in  the  world  of  fashion  ;  to  whom  should  I  report  my 
triumphs  ? 

"Ah,  to  live  at  Lanstrac,  on  the  estate  laid  out  by  your 
father,  in  the  house  you  restored  so  luxuriously — to  live  there 
with  your  child,  waiting  for  you,  and  sending  forth  to  you 
night  and  morning  the  prayers  of  the  mother  and  child,  of  the 
woman  and  the  angel — will  not  that  be  half-happiness  ?  Can- 
not you  see  the  little  hands  folded  in  mine  ?  Will  you  still 
remember,  as  I  shall  remember  every  evening,  the  happiness 
of  which  your  dear  letter  reminds  me  ?  Oh,  yes,  for  we  love 
each  other  equally.  I  can  no  more  doubt  you  than  you  could 
doubt  me. 

"What  consolations  can  I  offer  you  here,  I,  who  am  left 
desolate,  crushed  ;  I,  who  look  forward  to  the  next  six  years 
as  a  desert  to  be  crossed  ?  Well,  I  am  not  the  most  to  be 
pitied,  for  will  not  that  desert  be  cheered  by  our  little  one  ? 
Yes — a  boy — I  must  give  you  a  boy,  must  I  not  ?  So  farewell, 
dearly  beloved  one,  our  thoughts  and  our  love  will  ever  fol- 
Jpw  you.  The  tears  on  my  paper  will  tell  you  much  that  I 


A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  439 

cannot  express,  and  take  the  kisses  you  will  find  left  here, 
below  my  name,  by  your  own 

"NATALIE." 

This  letter  threw  Paul  into  a  day-dream,  caused  no  less  by 
the  rapture  into  which  he  was  thrown  by  these  expressions  of 
love  than  by  the  reminiscences  of  happiness  thus  intentionally 
called  up ;  and  he  went  over  them  all,  one  by  one,  to  account 
for  this  promise  of  a  child. 

The  happier  a  man  is,  the  greater  are  his  fears.  In  souls 
that  are  exclusively  tender — and  a  tender  nature  is  generally 
a  little  weak — jealousy  and  disquietude  are  usually  in  direct 
proportion  to  happiness  and  to  its  greatness.  Strong  souls  are 
neither  jealous  nor  easily  frightened :  jealousy  is  doubt,  and 
fear  is  small-minded.  Belief  without  limits  is  the  leading 
attribute  of  a  high-minded  man  ;  if  he  is  deceived — and 
strength  as  well  as  weakness  may  make  him  a  dupe — his  scorn 
serves  him  as  a  hatchet,  and  he  cuts  through  everything. 
Such  greatness  is  exceptional.  Which  of  us  has  not  known 
what  it  is  to  be  deserted  by  the  spirit  that  upholds  this  frail 
machine,  and  to  hear  only  the  unknown  voice  that  denies 
everything  ? 

Paul,  caught  as  it  were  in  the  toils  of  certain  undeniable 
facts,  doubted  and  believed  both  at  once.  Lost  in  thought,  a 
prey  to  terrible  but  involuntary  questionings,  and  yet  strug- 
gling with  the  proofs  of  true  affection  and  his  belief  in  Natalie, 
he  read  this  discursive  epistle  through  twice,  unable  to  come 
to  any  conclusion  for  or  against  his  wife.  Love  may  be  as 
great  in  wordiness  as  in  brevity  of  expression. 

Thoroughly  to  understand  Paul's  frame  of  mind,  he  must 
be  seen  floating  on  the  ocean  as  on  the  wide  expanse  of  the 
past ;  looking  back  on  his  life  as  on  a  cloudless  sky,  and 
coming  back  at  last  after  whirlwinds  of  doubt  to  the  pure, 
entire,  and  untarnished  faith  of  a  believer,  of  a  Christian,  of 
a  lover  convinced  by  the  voice  of  his  heart. 


440  A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT. 

It  is  now  not  less  necessary  to  give  the  letter  to  which 
Henri  de  Marsay's  was  a  reply. 

COMTE   PAUL   DE   MANERVILLE  TO   MONSIEUR  LE   MARQUIS 
—       .  HENRI   DE   MARSAY. 

"  HENRI  : — I  am  going  to  tell  you  one  of  the  greatest  things 
a  man  can  tell  a  friend :  I  am  ruined.  When  you  read  this 
I  shall  be  starting  from  Bordeaux  for  Calcutta  on  board  the 
good  ship  Belle-Amelie.  You  will  find  in  your  notary's  hands 
a  deed  which  only  needs  your  signature  to  ratify  it,  in-  which 
I  let  my  house  to  you  for  six  years  on  a  hypothetical  lease ; 
you  will  write  a  letter  counteracting  it  to  my  wife.  I  am 
obliged  to  take  this  precaution  in  order  that  Natalie  may  re- 
main in  her  own  house  without  any  fear  of  being  turned  out 
of  it.  'I  also  empower  you  to  draw  the  income  of  the  entailed 
property  for  four  years,  as  against  a  sum  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  francs  that  I  will  beg  you  to  send  by  a  bill, 
drawn  on  some  house  in  Bordeaux,  to  the  order  of  Mathias. 
My  wife  will  give  you  her  guarantee  to  enable  you  to  draw 
the  income.  If  the  revenue  from  the  entail  should  repay  you 
sooner  than  I  imagine,  we  can  settle  accounts  on  my  return. 
The  sum  I  ask  of  you  is  indispensable  to  enable  me  to  set  out 
to  seek  my  fortune ;  and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken  in  you,  I  shall 
receive  it  without  delay  at  Bordeaux  the  day  before  I  sail.  I 
have  acted  exactly  as  you  would  have  acted  in  my  place.  I 
have  held  out  to  the  last  moment  without  allowing  any  one  to 
suspect  my  position.  Then,  when  the  news  of  the  seizure  of 
my  saleable  estates  reached  Paris,  I  had  raised  money  by  notes 
of  hand  to  the  sum  of  a  hundred  thousand  francs,  to  try 
gambling.  Some  stroke  of  luck  might  reinstate  me.  I  lost. 

"How  did  I  ruin  myself?  Voluntarily,  my  dear  Henri. 
From  the  very  first  day  I  saw  that  I  could  not  go  on  in  the 
way  I  started.  I  knew  what  the  consequence  would  be;  I 
persisted  in  shutting  my  eyes,  for  I  could  not  bear  to  say  to 
my  wife:  'Let  us  leave  Paris  and  go  to  live  at  Lanstrac.'  I 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  441 

have  ruined  myself  for  her,  as  a  man  ruins  himself  for  a  mis- 
tress, but  knowing  it. 

"  Between  you  and  me,  I  am  neither  a  simpleton  nor  weak. 
A  simpleton  does  not  allow  himself  to  be  governed,  with  his 
eyes  open,  by  an  absorbing  passion ;  and  a  man  who  sets  out 
to  reconstitute  his  fortune  in  the  Indies,  instead  of  blowing 
his  brains  out,  is  a  man  of  spirit.  And  so,  my  dear  friend, 
as  I  care  for  wealth  only  for  her  sake,  as  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
any  man's  dupe,  and  as  I  shall  be  absent  six  years,  I  place  my 
wife  in  your  keeping.  You  are  enough  the  favorite  of  women 
to  respect  Natalie,  and  to  give  me  the  benefit  of  the  honest 
friendship  that  binds  us.  I  know  of  no  better  protector  than 
you  will  be.  I  am  leaving  my  wife  childless ;  a  lover  would 
be  a  danger.  You  must  know,  my  dear  de  Marsay,  I  love 
Natalie  desperately,  cringingly,  and  am  not  ashamed  of  it.  I 
could,  I  believe,  forgive  her  if  she  were  unfaithful,  not  because 
I  am  certain  that  I  could  be  revenged,  if  I  were  to  die  for  it ! 
but  because  I  would  kill  myself  to  leave  her  happy  if  I  myself 
could  not  make  her  happy. 

"But  what  have  I  to  fear?  Natalie  has  for  me  that  true 
regard,  independent  of  love,  which  preserves  love.  I  have 
treated  her  like  a  spoiled  child.  I  found  such  perfect  happi- 
ness in  my  sacrifices,  one  led  so  naturally  to  the  other,  that 
she  would  be  a  monster  to  betray  me.  Love  deserves  love. 

"Alas!  must  I  tell  you  the  whole  truth,  my  dear  Henri? 
I  have  just  written  her  a  letter  in  which  I  have  led  her  to  be- 
lieve that  I  am  setting  out  full  of  hope,  with  a  calm  face ;  that 
I  have  not  a  doubt,  no  jealousy,  no  fears ;  such  a  letter  as  sons 
write  to  deceive  a  mother  when  they  go  forth  to  die.  Good 
God  !  de  Marsay,  I  had  hell  within  me,  I  am  the  most  miser- 
able man  on  earth.  You  must  hear  my  cries,  my  gnashings  of 
the  teeth.  To  you  I  confess  the  tears  of  a  despairing  lover. 
Sooner  would  I  sweep  the  gutter  under  her  window  for  six 
years,  if  it  were  possible,  than  return  with  millions  after  six 
years'  absence.  I  suffer  the  utmost  anguish ;  I  shall  go  on 


442  A  MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

from  sorrow  to  sorrow  till  you  shall  have  written  me  a  line  to 
say  that  you  accept  a  charge  which  you  alone  in  the  world 
can  fulfill  and  carry  out. 

-  "My  dear  de  Marsay,  I  cannot  live  without  that  woman; 
she  is  air  and  sunshine  to  me.  Take  her  under  your  aegis, 
keep  her  faithful  to  me — even  against  her  will.  Yes,  I  can 
still  be  happy  with  such  half-happiness.  Be  her  protector  ;  I 
have  no  fear  of  you.  Show  her  how  vulgar  it  would  be  to 
deceive  me ;  that  it  would  make  her  like  every  other  woman  ; 
that  the  really  brilliant  thing  will  be  to  remain  faithful. 

"She  must  still  have  money  enough  to  carry  on  her  easy 
and  undisturbed  life ;  but  if  she  should  want  anything,  if  she 
should  have  a  whim,  be  her  banker — do  not  be  afraid,  I  shall 
come  home  rich. 

"After  all,  my  alarms  are  vain,  no  doubt ;  Natalie  is  an 
angel  of  virtue.  When  Felix  de  Vandenesse  fell  desperately 
in  love  with  her  and  allowed  himself  to  pay  her  some  atten- 
tions, I  only  had  to  point  out  the  danger  to  Natalie,  and  she 
thanked  me  so  affectionately  that  I  was  moved  to  tears.  She 
said  that  it  would  be  awkward  for  her  reputation  if  a  man  sud- 
denly disappeared  from  her  house,  but  that  she  would  find 
means  to  dismiss  him ;  and  she  did,  in  fact,  receive  him  very 
coldly,  so  that  everything  ended  well.  In  four  years  we  have 
never  had  any  other  subject  of  discussion,  if  a  conversation  as 
between  friends  can  be  called  a  discussion. 

"  Well,  my  dear  Henri,  I  must  say  farewell  like  a  man. 
The  disaster  has  come.  From  whatever  cause,  there  it  is ;  I 
can  but  bow  to  it.  Poverty  and  Natalie  are  two  irreconcilable 
terms.  And  the  balance  of  my  debts  and  assets  will  be  very 
nearly  exact ;  no  one  will  have  anything  of  which  to  complain. 
Still,  should  some  unforeseen  circumstance  threaten  my  honor, 
I  trust  in  you. 

"  Finally,  if  any  serious  event  should  occur,  you  can  write 
me  under  cover  to  the  governor-general  at  Calcutta.  I  have 
friends  in  his  household,  and  some  one  will  take  charge  of  any 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  443 

letters  for  me  that  may  arrive  from  Europe.  My  dear  friend, 
I  hope  to  find  you  still  the  same  on  my  return — a  man  who 
can  make  fun  of  everything,  and  who  is,  nevertheless,  alive  to 
the  feelings  of  others  when  they  are  in  harmony  with  the  noble 
nature  you  feel  in  yourself. 

"You  can  stay  in  Paris!  At  the  moment  when  you  read 
this  I  shall  be  crying,  ' To  Carthage  ! '" 

THE     MARQUIS    HENRI     DE    MARSAY   IN   REPLY   TO   THE    COMTE 
PAUL   DE   MANERVILLE. 

"And  so,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  you  have  collapsed  !  Mon- 
sieur the  Ambassador  has  turned  turtle !  Are  these  the  fine 
things  you  were  doing  ?  Why,  Paul,  did  you  keep  any  secret 
from  me  ?  If  you  had  said  but  one  word,  my  dear  old  fellow, 
I  could  have  thrown  light  on  the  matter. 

"Your  wife  refuses  her  guarantee.  That  should  be  enough 
to  unseal  your  eyes.  And,  if  not,  I  would  have  you  to  know 
that  your  notes  of  hand  have  been  protested  at  the  suit  of 
one  Lecuyer,  formerly  head-clerk  to  one  Solonet,  a  notary  at 
Bordeaux.  This  sucking  money-lender,  having  come  from 
Gascony  to  try  his  hand  at  stock-jobbing,  lends  his  name  to 
screen  your  very  honorable  mother-in-law,  the  real  creditor  to 
whom  you  owe  the  hundred  thousand  francs,  for  which,  it  is 
said,  she  gave  you  seventy  thousand.  Compared  to  Madame 
Evangelista,  Daddy  Gobseck  is  soft  flannel  velvet,  a  soothing 
draught,  a  meringue  a  la  vanillc  (a  vanilla-cake),  a  fifth-act 
uncle.  Your  vineyard  of  Bellerose  will  be  your  wife's  booty ; 
her  mother  is  to  pay  her  the  difference  between  the  price  it 
sells  for  and  the  sum-total  of  her  claims.  Madame  Evange- 
lista is  to  acquire  le  Gaudet  and  le  Grassol,  and  the  mortgages 
on  your  house  at  Bordeaux  are  all  in  her  hands  under  the 
names  of  men  of  straw,  found  for  her  by  that  fellow  Solonet. 
And  in  this  way  these  two  worthy  women  will  secure  an  in- 
come of  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  francs,  the  amount 
derivable  from  your  estates,  added  to  thirty-odd  thousand 


444  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

francs  a  year  in  the  Funds  which  the  dear,  delightful  hussies 
have  secured. 

"  Your  wife's  guarantee  was  unnecessary.  The  aforenamed 
Lecuyer  came  this  morning  to  offer  me  repayment  of  the 
money  I  have  sent  you  in  exchange  for  a  formal  transfer  of 
my  claims.  The  vintage  of  1825,  which  your  mother-in-law 
has  safe  in  the  cellars  at  Lanstrac,  is  enough  to  pay  me  off. 
So  the  two  women  have  calculated  that  you  would  be  at  sea 
by  this  time ;  but  I  am  writing  by  special  messenger  that  this 
may  reach  you  in  time  for  you  to  follow  the  advice  I  proceed 
to  give  you. 

"  I  made  this  Lecuyer  talk ;  and  from  his  lies,  his  state- 
ments, and  his  concealments,  I  have  culled  the  clues  that  I 
needed  to  reconstruct  the  whole  web  of  domestic  conspiracy 
that  has  been  working  against  you.  This  evening  at  the 
Spanish  Embassy  I  shall  pay  my  admiring  compliments  to 
your  wife  and  her  mother.  I  shall  be  most  attentive  to 
Madame  Evangelista,  I  shall  throw  you  over  in  the  meanest 
way,  I  shall  abuse  you,  but  with  extreme  subtlety ;  anything 
strong  would  at  once  put  this  Mascarille  in  petticoats  on  the 
scent.  What  did  you  do  that  set  her  against  you?  That  is 
what  I  mean  to  find  out.  If  only  you  had  had  wit  enough  to 
make  love  to  the  mother  before  marrying  the  daughter,  you 
would  at  this  moment  be  a  peer  of  France,  Due  de  Manerville, 
and  ambassador  to  Madrid.  If  only  you  had  sent  for  me  at 
the  time  of  your  marriage  !  I  could  have  taught  you  to  know, 
to  analyze,  the  two  women  you  would  have  to  fight,  and  by 
comparing  our  observations  we  should  have  hit  on  some  good 
counsel.  Was  not  I  the  only  friend  you  had  who  would  cer- 
tainly honor  your  wife  ?  Was  I  a  man  to  be  afraid  of?  But 
after  these  women  had  learned  to  judge  me,  they  took  fright 
and  divided  us.  If  you  had  not  been  so  silly  as  to  sulk  with 
me,  they  could  not  have  eaten  you  out  of  house  and  home. 

"Your  wife  contributed  largely  to  our  coolness.  She  was 
talked  over  by  her  mother,  to  whom  she  wrote  twice  a  week, 


A  MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  445 

and  you  never  heeded  it.  I  recognized  my  friend  Paul  as  I 
heard  this  detail. 

"  Within  a  month  I  will  be  on  such  terms  with  your  mother- 
in-law  that  she  herself  will  tell  me  the  reason  for  the  Hispano- 
Italian  vendetta  she  has  evidently  vowed  on  you — you,  the 
best  fellow  in  the  world.  Did  she  hate  you  before  her  daugh- 
ter was  in  love  with  Felix  de  Vandenesse  ?  or  has  she  driven 
you  to  the  Indies  that  her  daughter  may  be  free,  as  a  woman 
is  in  France  when  completely  separated  from  her  husband  ? 
That  is  the  problem. 

"I  can  see  you  leaping  and  howling  when  you  read  that 
your  wife  is  madly  in  love  with  Felix  de  Vandenesse.  If  I 
had  not  taken  it  into  my  head  to  make  a  tour  in  the  East  with 
Montriveau,  Ronquerolles,  and  certain  other  jolly  fellows  of 
your  acquaintance,  I  could  have  told  you  more  about  this 
intrigue,  which  was  incipient  when  I  left.  I  could  then  see 
the  first  sprouting  seed  of  your  catastrophe.  What  gentleman 
could  be  scurvy  enough  to  open  such  a  subject  without  some 
invitation,  or  dare  to  blow  on  a  woman  ?  Who  could  bear  to 
break  the  witch's  mirror  in  which  a  friend  loves  to  contem- 
plate the  fairy  scenes  of  a  happy  marriage?  Are  not  such 
illusions  the  wealth  of  the  heart?  And  was  not  your  wife, 
my  dear  boy,  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word,  a  woman  of  the 
world  ?  She  thought  of  nothing  but  her  success,  her  dress ; 
she  frequented  the  Bouffons,  the  opera,  and  balls;  rose  late, 
drove  in  the  Bois,  dined  out  or  gave  dinner-parties.  Such  a 
life  seems  to  me  to  be  to  women  what  war  is  to  men;  the 
public  sees  only  the  victorious,  and  forgets  the  dead.  Some 
delicate  women  die  of  this  exhausting  round ;  those  who 
survive  must  have  iron  constitutions,  and  consequently  very 
little  heart  and  very  strong  stomachs.  Herein  lies  the  reason 
of  the  want  of  feeling,  the  cold  atmosphere  of  drawing-room 
society.  Nobler  souls  dwell  in  solitude  ;  the  tender  and  weak 
succumb.  What  are  left  are  the  boulders  which  keep  the 
social  ocean  within  bounds  by  enduring  to  be  beaten  and 


446  .  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

rolled  by  the  breakers  without  wearing  out.  Your  wife  was 
made  to  withstand  this  life ;  she  seemed  inured  to  it ;  she  was 
always  fresh  and  beautiful.  To  me  the  inference  was  obvious 
— she  did  not  love  you,  while  you  loved  her  to  distraction. 
To  strike  the  spark  of  love  in  this  flinty  nature  a  man  of  iron 
was  required. 

"  After  being  caught  by  Lady  Dudley,  who  could  not  keep 
him  (she  is  the  wife  of  my  real  father),  Felix  was  obviously 
the  man  for  Natalie.  Nor  was  there  any  great  difficulty  in 
guessing  that  your  wife  did  not  care  for  you.  From  indiffer- 
ence to  aversion  is  but  a  step ;  and  sooner  or  later,  a  discus- 
sion, a  word,  an  act  of  authority  on  your  part,  a  mere  trifle, 
would  make  your  wife  overleap  it. 

"I  myself  could  have  rehearsed  the  scene  that  took  place 
between  you  every  night  in  her  room.  You  have  no  child, 
my  boy.  Does  not  that  fact  account  for  many  things  to  an 
observer?  You,  who  were  in  love,  could  hardly  discern  the 
coldness  natural  to  a  young  woman  whom  you  have  trained  to 
the  very  point  for  Felix  de  Vandenesse.  If  you  had  dis- 
covered that  your  wife  was  cold-hearted,  the  stupid  policy  of 
married  life  would  have  prompted  you  to  regard  it  as  the 
reserve  of  innocence.  Like  all  husbands,  you  fancied  you 
could  preserve  her  virtue  in  a  world  where  women  whisper  to 
each  other  things  that  men  dare  not  say,  where  all  that  a  hus- 
band would  never  tell  his  wife  is  spoken  and  commented  on 
behind  a  fan,  with  laughter  and  banter,  a  propos  to  a  trial  or 
an  adventure.  Though  your  wife  liked  the  advantages  of  a 
married  life,  she  found  the  price  a  little  heavy ;  the  price,  the 
tax,  was  yourself! 

"You,  seeing  none  of  these  things,  went  on  digging  pits 
and  covering  them  with  flowers,  to  use  the  time-honored 
rhetorical  figure.  You  calmly  submitted  to  the  rule  which 
governs  the  common  run  of  men,  and  from  which  I  had 
wished  to  protect  you. 

"  My  dear  boy,  nothing  was  wanting  to  make  you  as  great 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  447 

an  ass  as  any  tradesman  who  is  surprised  when  his  wife  deceives 
him ;  nothing  but  this  outcry  to  me  about  your  sacrifices  and 
your  love  for  Natalie :  '  How  ungrateful  she  would  be  to  be- 
tray me ;  I  have  done  this  and  that  and  the  other,  and  I  will 

do  more  yet,  I  will  go  to  India  for  her  sake '  etc.,  etc. 

My  dear  Paul,  you  have  lived  in  Paris,  and  you  have  had  the 
honor  of  the  most  intimate  friendship  of  one  Henri  de  Marsay, 
and  you  do  not  know  the  commonest  things,  the  first  princi- 
ples of  the  working  of  the  female  mechanism,  the  alphabet  of 
a  woman's  heart !  You  may  slave  yourself  to  death,  you  may 
go  to  Sainte-Pelagie,  you  may  kill  two-and-twenty  men,  give 
up  seven  mistresses,  serve  Laban,  cross  the  desert,  narrowly 
escape  the  hulks,  cover  yourself  with  disgrace ;  like  Nelson, 
refuse  to  give  battle  because  you  must  kiss  Lady  Hamilton's 
shoulder,  or,  like  Bonaparte,  fight  old  Wurmser,  get  yourself 
cut  up  on  the  bridge  of  Arcole,  rave  like  Rolando,  break  a 
leg  in  splints  to  dance  with  a  woman  for  five  minutes !  But, 
my  dear  boy,  what  has  any  of  these  things  to  do  with  her 
loving  you  ?  If  love  were  taken  as  proven  by  such  evidence, 
men  would  be  too  happy ;  a  few  such  demonstrations  at  the 
moment  when  he  wanted  her  would  win  the  woman  of  his 
heart. 

"  Love,  you  stupid  old  Paul,  is  a  belief  like  that  in  the  im- 
maculate conception  of  the  Virgin.  You  have  it,  or  you  have 
it  not.  Of  what  avail  are  rivers  of  blood,  or  the  mines  of 
Potosi,  or  the  greatest  glory,  to  produce  an  involuntary  and 
inexplicable  feeling?  Young  men  like  you,  who  look  for  love 
to  balance  their  outlay,  seem  to  me  base  usurers.  Our  legal 
wives  owe  us  children  and  virtue ;  but  they  do  not  owe  love. 
Love  is  the  consciousness  of  happiness  given  and  received, 
and  the  certainty  of  giving  and  getting  it ;  it  is  an  ever-living 
attraction,  constantly  satisfied,  and  yet  insatiable.  On  the 
day  when  Vandenesse  stirred  in  your  wife's  heart  the  chord 
you  had  left  untouched  and  virginal,  your  amorous  flourishes, 
your  outpourings  of  soul,  and  of  money,  ceased  even  to  be 


448  A  MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

remembered.  Your  nights  of  happiness  strewn  with  roses — 
fudge  !  Your  devotion — an  offering  of  remorse  !  Yourself — a 
victim  to  be  slain  on  the  altar  !  Your  previous  life — a  blank  ! 
One  impulse  of  love  annihilated  your  treasures  of  passion, 
which  were  now  but  old  iron.  He,  Felix,  has  had  her  beauty, 
her  devotion — for  no  return  perhaps;  but,  in  love,  belief  is 
as  good  as  reality. 

"Your  mother-in-law  was  naturally  on  the  side  of  the  lover 
against  the  husband ;  secretly  or  confessedly  she  shut  her  eyes 
— or  she  opened  them  j  I  do  not  know  what  she  did,  but  she 
took  her  daughter's  part  against  you.  For  fifteen  years  I  have 
observed  society,  and  I  never  knew  a  mother  who,  under  such 
circumstances,  deserted  her  daughter.  Such  indulgence  is 
hereditary,  from  woman  to  woman.  And  what  man  can 
blame  them  ?  Some  lawyer,  perhaps,  responsible  for  the 
Civil  Code,  which  saw  only  formulas  where  feelings  were  at 
stake.  The  extravagance  into  which  you  were  dragged  by  the 
career  of  a  fashionable  wife,  the  tendencies  of  an  easy  nature, 
and  your  vanity  too,  perhaps,  supplied  her  with  the  oppor- 
tunity of  getting  rid  of  you  by  an  ingenious  scheme  of  ruin. 

"  From  all  this  you  will  conclude,  my  good  friend,  that  the 
charge  you  put  upon  me,  and  which  I  should  have  fulfilled  all 
the  more  gloriously  because  it  would  have  amused  me,  is,  so 
to  speak,  null  and  void.  The  evil  I  was  to  have  hindered  is 
done — consummatum  est.  Forgive  me  for  writing  a  la  de  Mar- 
say,  as  you  say,  on  matters  which  to  you  are  so  serious.  Far 
be  it  from  me  to  cut  capers  on  a  friend's  grave,  as  heirs  do  on 
that  of  an  uncle.  But  you  write  to  me  that  you  mean  hence- 
forth to  be  a  man,  and  I  take  you  at  your  word  ;  I  treat  you 
as  a  statesman,  and  not  as  a  lover. 

"  Has  not  this  mishap  been  to  you  like  the  brand  on  his 
shoulder  that  determines  a  convict  on  a  systematic  antagonism 
to  society,  and  a  revolt  against  it  ?  You  are  hereby  released 
from  one  care — marriage  was  your  master,  now  it  is  your 
servant.  Paul,  I  am  your  friend  in  the  fullest  meaning  of  the 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  449 

word.  If  your  brain  had  been  bound  in  a  circlet  of  brass,  if 
you  had  earlier  had  the  energy  that  has  come  to  you  too  late, 
I  could  have  proved  my  friendship  by  telling  you  things  that 
would  have  enabled  you  to  walk  over  human  beings  as  on  a 
carpet.  But  whenever  we  talked  over  the  combinations  to 
which  I  owed  the  faculty  of  amusing  myself  with  a  few  friends 
in  the  heart  of  Parisian  civilization,  like  a  bull  in  a  china 
shop ;  whenever  I  told  you,  under  romantic  disguises,  some 
true  adventure  of  my  youth,  you  always  regarded  them  as 
romances,  and  did  not  see  their  bearing.  Hence,  I  could 
only  think  of  you  as  a  case  of  unrequited  passion.  Well,  on 
my  word  of  honor,  in  the  existing  circumstances,  you  have 
played  the  nobler  part,  and  you  have  lost  nothing,  as  you 
might  imagine,  in  my  opinion.  Though  I  admire  a  great 
scoundrel,  I  esteem  and  like  those  who  are  taken  in. 

"A  propos  to  the  doctor  who  came  to  such  a  bad  end, 
brought  to  the  scaffold  by  his  love  for  his  mistress,  I  remember 
telling  you  the  far  more  beautiful  story  of  the  unhappy  lawyer 
who  is 'still  living  on  the  hulks,  I  know  not  where,  branded 
as  a  forger  because  he  wanted  to  give  his  wife — again,  an 
adored  wife — thirty  thousand  francs  a  year,  and  the  wife  gave 
him  up  to  justice  in  order  to  get  rid  of  him  and  live  with  an- 
other gentleman.  You  cried  shame,  you  and  some  others  too 
who  were  supping  with  us.  Well,  my  dear  fellow,  you  are 
that  lawyer — minus  the  hulks. 

"Your  friends  do  not  spare  you  the  discredit  which,  in 
our  sphere  of  life,  is  equivalent  to  a  sentence  pronounced 
by  the  Bench.  The  Marquise  de  Listomere,  the  sister  of  the 
two  Vandenesses,  and  all  her  following,  in  which  little  Ras- 
tignac  is  now  enlisted — a  young  rascal  who  is  coming  to  the 
front ;  Madame  d'Aiglemont  and  all  her  set,  among  whom 
Charles  de  Vandenesse  is  regnant ;  the  Lenoncourts,  the  Com- 
tesse  Feraud,  Madame  d'Espard,  the  Nucingens,  the  Spanish 
Embassy ;  in  short,  a  whole  section  of  the  fashionable  world, 
very  cleverly  prompted,  heap  mud  upon  your  name.  'You 
29 


450  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

are  a  dissipated  wretch,  a  gambler,  a  debauchee,  and  have 
made  away  with  your  money  in  the  stupidest  way.  Your  wife 
— an  angel  of  virtue  ! — after  paying  your  debts  several  times, 
has  just  paid  off  a  hundred  thousand  francs  to  redeem  bills 
you  had  drawn,  though  her  fortune  is  apart  from  yours. 
Happily,  you  have  pronounced  sentence  on  yourself  by  getting 
out  of  the  way.  If  you  had  gone  on  so,  you  would  have  re- 
duced her  to  beggary,  and  she  would  have  been  a  martyr  to 
conjugal  devotion  ! '  When  a  man  rises  to  power,  he  has  as 
many  virtues  as  will  furnish  an  epitaph ;  if  he  falls  into  pov- 
erty, he  has  more  vices  than  the  prodigal  son  ;  you  could  never 
imagine  how  many  Don  Juan  vices  are  attributed  to  you  now. 
You  gambled  on  the  Bourse,  you  had  licentious  tastes,  which 
it  cost  you  vast  sums  to  indulge,  and  which  are  mentioned 
with  comments  and  jests  that  mystify  the  women.  You  paid 
enormous  interest  to  the  money-lenders.  The  two  Vandenesses 
laugh  as  they  tell  a  story  of  Gigonnet's  selling  you  an  ivory 
man-of-war  for  six  thousand  francs,  and  buying  it  of  your 
manservant  for  five  crowns  only  to  sell  it  to  you  again,  till  you 
solemnly  smashed  it  on  discovering  that  you  might  have  a  real 
ship  for  the  money  it  was  costing  you.  The  adventure  oc- 
curred nine  years  ago,  and  Maxime  de  Trailles  was  the  hero 
of  it ;  but  it  is  thought  to  fit  you  so  well,  that  Maxime  has 
lost  the  command  of  his  frigate  for  good.  In  short,  I  cannot 
tell  you  everything,  for  you  have  furnished  forth  a  perfect 
encyclopaedia  of  tittle-tattle,  to  which  every  woman  tries  to 
add.  In  this  state  of  affairs,  the  most  prudish  are  ready  to 
legitimize  any  consolation  bestowed  by  Comte  Felix  de  Van- 
denesse — for  their  father  is  dead  at  last,  yesterday. 

"  Your  wife  is  the  great  success  of  the  hour.  Yesterday 
Madame  de  Camps  was  repeating  all  these  stories  to  me  at 
the  Italian  opera.  'Don't  talk  to  me,'  said  I,  'you  none  of 
you  know  half  the  facts.  Paul  had  robbed  the  Bank  and 
swindled  the  Treasury.  He  murdered  Ezzelino,  and  caused 
the  death  of  three  Medoras  of  the  Rue  Saint-Denis,  and,  be- 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  451 

tween  you  and  me,  I  believe  him  to  be  implicated  in  the 
doings  of  the  Ten  Thousand.  His  agent  is  the  notorious 
Jacques  Collin,  whom  the  police  have  never  been  able  to  find 
since  his  last  escape  from  the  hulks  ;  Paul  harbored  him  in 
his  house.  As  you  see,  he  is  capable  of  any  crime  ;  he  is  de- 
ceiving the  Government.  Now  they  have  gone  off  together 
to  see  what  they  can  do  in  India,  and  rob  the  Great  Mogul.' 
Madame  de  Camps  understood  that  a  woman  of  such  distinc- 
tion as  herself  ought  not  to  use  her  pretty  lips  as  a  Venetian 
lion's  maw. 

"Many  persons,  on  hearing  these  tragi-comedies,  refuse  to 
believe  them ;  they  defend  human  nature  and  noble  sentiments, 
and  insist  that  these  arc  fictions.  My  dear  fellow,  Talleyrand 
made  this  clever  remark :  '  Everything  happens. '  Certainly 
even  stranger  things  than  this  domestic  conspiracy  happen 
under  our  eyes ;  but  the  world  is  so  deeply  interested  in  de- 
nying them,  and  in  declaring  that  it  is  slandered,  and  beside, 
these  great  dramas  are  played  so  naturally,  with  a  veneer  of 
such  perfect  good  taste,  that  I  often  have  to  wipe  my  eyeglass 
before  I  can  see  to  the  bottom  of  things.  But  I  say  once  more, 
when  a  man  is  my  friend  with  whom  I  have  received  the  bap- 
tism of  Champagne,  and  communion  at  the  altar  of  Venus 
Commoda,  when  we  have  together  been  confirmed  by  the 
clawing  fingers  of  the  croupier,  and  when  then  my  friend  is 
in  a  false  position,  I  would  uproot  twenty  families  to  set  him 
straight  again. 

"  You  must  see  that  I  have  a  real  affection  for  you ;  have  I 
ever  to  your  knowledge  written  so  long  a  letter  as  this  is? 
So  read  with  care  all  that  follows. 

"  Alack  !  Paul ;  I  must  take  to  writing,  I  must  get  into  the 
habit  of  jotting  down  the  minutes  for  dispatches  ;  I  am  start- 
ing on  a  political  career.  Within  five  years  I  mean  to  have  a 
minister's  portfolio,  or  find  myself  an  ambassador  where  I  can 
stir  public  affairs  round  in  my  own  way.  There  is  an  age 
when  a  man's  fairest  mistress  is  his  country.  I  am  joining 


452  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

the  ranks  of  those  who  mean  to  overthrow  not  merely  the  ex- 
isting Ministry,  but  their  whole  system.  In  fact,  I  am  swim- 
ming in  the  wake  of  a  prince  who  halts  only  on  one  foot,  and 
whom  I  regard  as  a  man  of  political  genius,  whose  name  is 
growing  great  in  history;  as  complete  a  prince  as  a  great 
artist  may  be.  We  are  Ronquerolles,  Montriveau,  the  Grand- 
lieus,  the  Roche-Hugons,  Serizy,  Feraud,  and  Granville,*  all 
united  against  the  priestly  party,  as  the  silly  party  that  is 
represented  by  the  '  Constitutionnel '  ingeniously  calls  it.  We 
mean  to  upset  the  two  Vandenesses,  the  Dues  de  Lenoncourt, 
de  Navarreins,  de  Langeais,  and  de  la  Grande-Aumonerie. 
To  gain  our  end,  we  may  go  so  far  as  to  form  a  coalition  with 
Lafayette,  the  Orleanists,  the  Left — all  men  who  must  be  got 
rid  of  as  soon  as  we  have  won  the  day,  for  to  govern  on  their 
principles  is  impossible  ;  and  we  are  capable  of  anything  for 
the  good  of  the  country — and  our  own. 

"  Personal  questions  as  to  the  King's  person  are  mere  senti- 
mental folly  in  these  days ;  they  must  be  cleared  away.  From 
that  point  of  view,  the  English,  with  their  sort  of  Doge,  are 
more  advanced  than  we  are.  Politics  have  nothing  to  do  with 
that,  my  dear  fellow.  Politics  consist  in  giving  the  nation  an 
impetus  by  creating  an  oligarchy  embodying  a  fixed  theory 
of  government,  and  able  to  direct  public  affairs  along  a 
straight  path,  instead  of  allowing  the  country  to  be  pulled  in 
a  thousand  different  directions,  which  is  what  has  been 
happening  for  the  last  forty  years  in  our  beautiful  France — at 
once  so  intelligent  and  so  sottish,  so  wise  and  so  foolish ;  it 
needs  a  system  indeed,  much  more  than  men.  What  are 
individuals  in  this  great  question  ?  If  the  end  is  a  great  one,  if 
the  country  may  live  happy  and  free  from  trouble,  what  do 
the  masses  care  for  the  profits  of  our  stewardship,  our  fortune, 
privileges,  and  pleasures  ? 

"  I  am  now  standing  firm  on  my  feet.  I  have  at  the  present 
moment  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  a  year  in  the 
*  See  "  The  Thirteen." 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  453 

Three  per  Cents.,  and  a  reserve  of  two  hundred  thousand 
francs  to  repair  damages.  Even  this  does  not  seem  to  me 
very  much  ballast  in  the  pocket  of  a  man  starting  left  foot 
foremost  to  scale  the  heights  of  power. 

"  A  fortunate  accident  settled  the  question  of  my  setting 
out  on  this  career,  which  did  not  particularly  smile  on  me, 
for  you  know  my  predilection  for  the  life  of  the  East.  After 
thirty-five  years  of  slumber,  my  highly  respected  mother  woke 
up  to  the  recollection  that  she  had  a  son  who  might  do  her 
honor.  Often  when  a  vine-stock  is  eradicated,  some  years 
after  shoots  come  up  to  the  surface  of  the  ground ;  well,  my 
dear  boy,  my  mother  had  almost  torn  me  up  by  the  roots 
from  her  heart,  and  I  sprouted  again  in  her  head.  At  the 
age  of  fifty-eight,  she  thinks  herself  old  enough  to  think  no 
more  of  any  men  but  her  son.  At  this  juncture  she  has  met 
in  some  hot-water  caldron,  at  I  know  not  what  baths,  a  de- 
lightful old  maid — English,  with  two  hundred  and  forty  thou- 
sand francs  a  year  ;  and,  like  a  good  mother,  she  has  inspired 
her  with  an  audacious  ambition  to  become  my  wife.  A  maid 
of  six-and-thirty,  my  word  !  Brought  up  in  the  strictest  puri- 
tanical principles,  a  steady  sitting  hen,  who  maintains  that 
unfaithful  wives  should  be  publicly  burnt.  '  Where  will  you 
find  wood  enough  ? '  I  asked  her.  I  could  have  sent  her  to 
the  devil,  for  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  francs  a  year 
are  no  equivalent  for  liberty,  nor  a  fair  price  for  my  physical 
and  moral  worth  and  my  prospects.  But  she  is  the  sole 
heiress  of  a  gouty  old  fellow,  some  London  brewer,  who  within 
a  calculable  time  will  leave  her  a  fortune  equal  at  least  to 
what  the  sweet  creature  has  already.  Added  to  these  advan- 
tages, she  has  a  red  nose,  the  eyes  of  a  dead  goat,  a  waist  that 
makes  one  fear  lest  she  should  break  into  three  pieces  if  she 
falls  down,  and  the  coloring  of  a  badly  painted  doll.  But — 
she  is  delightfully  economical ;  but — she  will  adore  her  hus- 
band, do  what  he  will ;  but — she  has  the  English  gift :  she  will 
manage  my  house,  my  stables,  my  servants,  my  estates  better 


454  A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

than  any  steward.  She  has  all  the  dignity  of  virtue ;  she 
holds  herself  as  erect  as  a  confidante  on  the  stage  of  the 
Francais ;  nothing  will  persuade  me  that  she  has  not  been 
impaled  and  the  shaft  broken  off  in  her  body.  Miss  Stevens 
is,  however,  fair  enough  to  be  not  too  unpleasing  if  I  must 
positively  marry  her.  But — and  this  to  me  is  truly  pathetic — 
she  has  the  hands  of  a  woman  as  immaculate  as  the  sacred 
ark ;  they  are  so  red  that  I  have  not  yet  hit  on  any  way  to 
whiten  them  that  will  not  be  too  costly,  and  I  have  no  idea 
how  to  fine  down  her  fingers,  which  arc  like  sausages.  Yes ; 
she  evidently  belongs  to  the  brewhouse  by  her  hands,  and  to 
the  aristocracy  by  her  money;  but  she  is  apt  to  affect  the 
great  lady  a  little  too  much,  as  do  rich  Englishwomen  who 
want  to  be  mistaken  for  them,  and  she  displays  her  lobster- 
claws  too  freely. 

"  She  has,  however,  as  little  intelligence  as  I  could  wish 
in  a  woman.  If  there  were  a  stupider  one  to  be  found,  I 
would  set  out  to  seek  her.  This  girl,  whose  name  is  Dinah, 
will  never  criticise  me ;  she  will  never  contradict  me ;  I  shall 
be  her  Upper  Chamber,  her  Lords  and  Commons.  In  short, 
Paul,  she  is  indefeasible  evidence  of  the  English  genius;  she 
is  a  product  of  English  mechanics  brought  to  their  highest 
pitch  of  perfection  ;  she  was  undoubtedly  made  at  Manchester, 
between  the  manufactory  of  Perry's  pens  and  the  workshops 
for  steam-engines.  It  eats,  it  drinks,  it  walks,  it  may  have 
children,  take  good  care  of  them,  and  bring  them  up  admir- 
ably, and  it  apes  a  woman  so  well  that  you  would  believe  it 
real. 

"  When  my  mother  introduced  us,  she  had  set  up  the 
machine  so  cleverly,  had  so  carefully  fitted  the  pegs,  and  oiled 
the  wheels  so  thoroughly,  that  nothing  jarred ;  then,  when  she 
saw  I  did  not  make  a  very  wry  face,  she  set  the  springs  in 
motion,  and  the  woman  spoke.  Finally,  my  mother  uttered 
the  decisive  words :  '  Miss  Dinah  Stevens  spends  no  more  than 
thirty  thousand  francs  a  year,  and  has  been  traveling  for  seven 


A    MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  455 

years  in  order  to  economize.'  So  there  is  another  image,  and 
that  one  is  silver. 

"  Matters  are  so  far  advanced  that  the  banns  are  to  be  pub- 
lished. We  have  got  as  far  as  'My  dear  love.'  Miss  makes 
eyes  at  me  that  might  floor  a  porter.  The  settlements  are 
prepared.  My  fortune  is  not  inquired  into;  Miss  Stevens 
devotes  a  portion  of  hers  to  creating  an  entail  in  landed  estate, 
bearing  an  income  of  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  francs, 
and  to  the  purchase  of  a  house,  likewise  entailed.  The  settle- 
ment credited  to  me  is  of  a  million  francs.  She  has  nothing 
to  complain  of.  I  leave  her  uncle's  money  untouched. 

"The  worthy  brewer,  who  has  helped  to  found  the  entail, 
was  near  to  bursting  with  joy  when  he  heard  that  his  niece  was 
to  be  a  marquise.  He  would  be  capable  of  doing  something 
handsome  for  my  eldest  boy. 

"  I  shall  sell  out  of  the  Funds  as  soon  as  they  are  up  to 
eighty,  and  invest  in  land.  Thus,  in  two  years  I  may  look  to 
get  six  hundred  thousand  francs  a  year  out  of  real  estate.  So, 
you  see,  Paul,  I  do  not  give  my  friends  advice  that  I  am  not 
ready  to  act  upon. 

"  If  you  had  but  listened  to  me,  you  would  have  an  English 
wife,  some  nabob's  daughter,  who  would  leave  you  the  free- 
dom of  a  bachelor  and  the  independence  necessary  for  playing 
the  whist  of  ambition.  I  would  concede  my  future  wife  to 
you  if  you  were  not  married  already.  But  that  cannot  be 
helped,  and  I  am  not  the  man  to  bid  you  chew  the  cud  of  the 
past. 

"  All  this  preamble  was  needful  to  explain  to  you  that  for 
the  future  my  position  in  life  will  be  such  as  a  man  needs  if 
he  wants  to  play  the  great  game  of  pitch-and-toss.  I  cannot 
do  without  you,  my  friend.  Instead  of  going  to  pickle  in  the 
Indies,  you  will  find  it  much  simpler  to  swim  in  my  convoy 
in  the  waters  of  the  Seine.  Believe  me,  Paris  is  still  the  spot 
where  fortune  crops  up  most  freely.  Potosi  is  situated  in  the 
Rue  Vivienne  or  the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  the  Place  Vendome,  or 


456  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

the  Rue  de  la  Rivoli.  In  every  other  country,  manual  labor, 
the  sweat  of  the  perspiring  agent,  marches  and  counter- 
marches, are  indispensable  to  the  accumulation  of  a  fortune ; 
here  intelligence  is  sufficient.  Here  a  man,  even  of  modern 
talent,  may  discover  a  gold-mine  as  he  puts  on  his  slippers  or 
picks  his  teeth  after  dinner,  as  he  goes  to  bed  or  gets  up  in 
the  morning.  Find  me  a  spot  on  earth  where  a  good  com- 
monplace idea  brings  in  more  money  or  is  more  immediately 
understood  than  it  is  here?  If  I  climb  to  the  top  of  the  tree, 
am  I  the  man  to  refuse  you  a  hand,  a  word,  a  signature?  Do 
not  we  young  scamps  need  a  friend  we  can  rely  on,  if  it  were 
only  to  compromise  him  in  our  place  and  stead,  to  send  him 
forth  to  die  as  a  private,  so  as  to  save  the  general  ?  Politics 
are  impossible  without  a  man  of  honor  at  hand,  to  whom 
everything  may  be  said  and  done. 

"  This,  then,  is  my  advice  to  you.  Let  the  Belle-Amelie 
sail  without  you;  return  here  like  a  lightning  flash,  and  I  will 
arrange  a  duel  for  you  with  Felix  de  Vandenesse,  in  which  you 
must  fire  first,  and  down  with  your  man  as  dead  as  a  pigeon. 
In  France  an  outraged  husband 'who  kills  his  man  is  at  once 
respectable  and  respected.  No  one  ever  makes  game  of  him  ! 
Fear,  my  dear  boy,  is  an  element  of  social  life,  and  a  means 
of  success  for  those  whose  eyes  never  fall  before  the  gaze  of 
any  other  man.  I,  who  care  no  more  for  life  than  for  a  cup 
of  ass*  milk,  and  who  never  felt  a  qualm  of  fear,  have  observed 
the  strange  effects  of  that  form  of  emotion  on  modern  manners. 
Some  dread  the  idea  of  losing  the  enjoyments  to  which  they 
are  fettered,  others  that  of  parting  from  some  woman.  The 
adventurous  temper  of  past  times,  when  a  man  threw  away  his 
life  like  a  slipper,  has  ceased  to  exist.  In  many  men  courage 
is  merely  a  clever  speculation  on  the  fear  that  may  seize  their 
adversary.  None  but  the  Poles  now,  in  Europe,  ever  fight  for 
the  pleasure  of  it ;  they  still  cultivate  the  art  for  art's  sake, 
and  not  as  a  matter  of  calculation.  Kill  Vandenesse,  and 
your  wife  will  tremble,  your  mother-in-law  will  tremble,  the 


A   MARRIAGE   SETTLEMENT.  457 

public  will  tremble ;  you  will  be  rehabilitated,  you  will  pro- 
claim your  frantic  passion  for  your  wife,  every  one  will  believe 
you,  and  you  will  be  a  hero.  Such  is  France. 

"I  shall  not  stickle  over  a  hundred  thousand  francs  with 
you.  You  can  pay  your  principal  debts,  and  can  prevent 
utter  ruin  by  pledging  your  property  on  a  time  bargain  with 
option  of  repurchase,  for  you  will  soon  be  in  position  that  will 
allow  you  to  pay  off  the  mortgage  before  the  time  is  up. 
Also,  knowing  your  wife's  character,  you  can  henceforth  rule 
her  with  a  word.  While  you  loved  her  you  could  not  hold 
your  own ;  now,  having  ceased  to  love  her,  your  power  will 
be  irresistible.  I  shall  have  made  your  mother-in-law  as 
supple  as  a  glove ;  for  what  you  have  to  do  is  to  reinstate 
yourself  with  the  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  those 
women  have  saved  for  themselves. 

"So  give  up  your  self-exile,  which  always  seems  to  me  the 
charcoal-brasier  of  men  of  brains.  If  you  run  away,  you 
leave  slander  mistress  of  the  field.  The  gambler  who  goes 
home  to  fetch  his  money  and  comes  back  to  the  tables  loses 
all.  You  must  have  your  funds  in  your  pocket.  You  appear 
to  me  to  be  seeking  fresh  reinforcements  in  the  Indies.  No 
good  at  all !  We  are  two  gamblers  at  the  green  table  of 
politics ;  between  you  and  me  loans  are  a  matter  of  course. 
So  take  post-horses,  come  to  Paris,  and  begin  a  new  game ; 
with  Henri  de  Marsay  for  a  partner  you  will  win,  for  Henri 
de  Marsay  knows  what  he  wants  and  when  to  strike. 

"This,  you  see,  is  where  we  stand.  My  real  father  is  in 
the  English  Ministry.  We  shall  have  connections  with  Spain 
through  the  Evangelistas  ;  for  as  soon  as  your  mother-in-law 
and  I  have  measured  claws,  we  shall  perceive  that  when  devil 
meets  devil  there  is  nothing  to  be  gained  on  either  side. 
Montriveau  is  a  lieutenant-general ;  he  will  certainly  be  war 
minister  sooner  or  later,  for  his  eloquence  gives  him  much 
power  in  the  Chamber.  Ronquerolles  is  in  the  Ministry  and 
on  the  Privy  Council.  Martial  de  la  Roche-Hugon  is  ap- 


458  A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT. 

pointed  minister  to  Germany  and  made  a  peer  of  France, 
and'  he  has  brought  us  as  an  addition  Marshal  the  Due  de 
Carigliano  and  all  the  '  rump '  of  the  Empire,  which  so 
stupidly  held  on  to  the  rear  of  the  Restoration.  Serizy  is 
leader  of  the  State  Council ;  he  is  indispensable  there.  Gran- 
ville  is  master  of  the  legal  party;  he  has  two  sons  on  the 
Bench.  The  Grandlieus  are  in  high  favor  at  Court.  Feraud 
is  the  soul  of  the  Gondreville  set,  low  intriguers  who,  I  know 
not  why,  are  always  at  the  top.  Thus  supported,  what  have 
we  to  fear  ?  We  have  a  foot  in  every  capital,  an  eye  in  every 
cabinet ;  we  hem  in  the  whole  administration  without  their 
suspecting  it. 

"Is  not  the  money  question  a  mere  trifle,  nothing  at  all, 
when  all  this  machinery  is  ready.  And,  above  all,  what  is  a 
woman  ?  Will  you  never  be  anything  but  a  schoolboy  ?  What 
is  life,  my  dear  fellow,  when  it  is  wrapped  up  in  a  woman  ?  A 
ship  over  which  we  have  no  command,  which  obeys  a  wild 
compass  though  it  has  indeed  a  lode-stone ;  which  runs  before 
every  wind  that  blows,  and  in  which  the  man  really  is  a 
galley-slave,  obedient  not  only  to  the  law,  but  to  every  rule 
improvised  by  his  driver,  without  the  possibility  of  retaliation. 
Phaugh  ! 

"I  can  understand  that  from  passion,  or  the  pleasure  to  be 
found  in  placing  our  power  in  a  pair  of  white  hands,  a  man 
should  obey  his  wife — but  when  it  comes  to  obeying  M&ior — 
then  away  with  Angelica  !  The  great  secret  of  social  alchemy, 
my  dear  sir,  is  to  get  the  best  of  everything  out  of  each  stage 
of  our  life,  to  gather  all  its  leaves  in  spring,  all  its  flowers  in 
summer,  all  its  fruits  in  autumn.  Now  we — I  and  some  boon 
companions — have  enjoyed  ourselves  for  twelve  years,  like 
musketeers,  black,  white,  and  red,  refusing  ourselves  nothing, 
not  even  a  filibustering  expedition  now  and  again ;  hence- 
forth we  mean  to  shake  ripe  plums  off  the  tree,  at  an  age  when 
experience  has  ripened  the  harvest.  Come,  join  us ;  you  shall 
have  a  share  of  the  pudding  we  mean  to  stir. 


A   MARRIAGE  SETTLEMENT.  459 

"  Come,  and  you  will  find  a  friend  wholly  yours  in  the 
skin  of  HENRI  DE  M." 

At  the  moment  when  Paul  de  Manerville  finished  reading 
this  letter,  of  which  every  sentence  fell  like  a  sledge-hammer 
on  the  tower  of  his  hopes,  his  illusions,  and  his  love,  he  was 
already  beyond  the  Azores.  In  the  midst  of  this  ruin,  rage 
surged  up  in  him — cold  and  impotent  rage. 

"What  had  I  done  to  them?"  he  asked  himself. 

This  question  is  the  impulse  of  the  simpleton,  of  the  weak 
natures,  which,  as  they  see  nothing,  can  foresee  nothing. 

"Henri,  Henri!"  he  cried  aloud.  "The  one  true 
friend  !  " 

Many  men  would  have  gone  mad.  Paul  went  to  bed  and 
slept  the  deep  sleep  which  supervenes  on  immeasurable  dis- 
aster ;  as  Napoleon  slept  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo. 

PARIS,  September- October,  1835. 


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